Piney Point: Phosphate Nightmare

Given the unfortunate options before them, Florida regulators probably have no choice but to use the Gulf of Mexico as a sewer for phosphate waste. But let no one in state government mark this off as unavoidable environmental fate. What is happening with this massive heap of phosphogypsum waste near Port Manatee was foreseeable and […]

Monterey county rejects fluoridation plan

Monterey County supervisors agreed Tuesday that they don’t want to get involved in the swirl of controversy over fluoridation. “I don’t think we even have the authority,” said Supervisor Lou Calcagno. The issue arose in January when the county grand jury recommended the county become a “principal advocate” for the fluoridation of drinking water in […]

Monterey supervisors won’t push fluoride

Monterey County supervisors Tuesday ruled out taking an advocacy role in the sharp, public health debate over water fluoridation. On a 5-0 vote, the supervisors rejected a recommendation from the 2002 civil grand jury that the county take the lead in getting local water systems to fluoridate. “The benefits are too vague … and the […]

Tie vote kills fluoride issue

An effort to have Independence voters decide in November whether to put fluoride in the city’s water died Monday on a tied City Council vote. With Council Member Charlie Rich absent, the final vote was 3-3 on an ordinance to put the issue on the ballot. Voting in favor were Jason White, Jim Schultz and […]

Kids eat too much fluoride from foods, studies show

NEW YORK, March 17 /PRNewswire/ — Kids ingest excessive fluoride, studies show, not just from toothpaste, but from their foods, making water fluoridation unnecessary and unsafe, reports the New York State Coalition Opposed to Fluoridation (NYSCOF). University of Indiana researchers analyzed foods typical three- to five-year-olds eat and found diet significantly contributes to children’s daily […]

Gypsum Stacks Cleanup Costly

TALLAHASSEE – State environmental regulators say they need to spend $45 million in the coming year to pump 750 million gallons of contaminated water from a former phosphate fertilizer plant in Manatee County. Nearly 800 million gallons of acid- laden water is stored atop radioactive phosphogypsum stacks at the Piney Point plant near Port Manatee. […]

Verbal bricks tossed at plant

Residents and activists who turned out for a public hearing this week on the Phoenix Brick Yard’s air-pollution permit didn’t have kind words for the long-running operation. The 11 people who offered formal testimony to Maricopa County air-pollution officials blamed the plant for harming their health, unleashing truck traffic in their south-central neighborhood and even […]

Residents give concerns at brick yard meeting

PHOENIX – Neighbors of the only brick yard operating in the state complained about pollution and dust from the facility at a public hearing Tuesday night. About 30 people attended the meeting, held as part of the Phoenix Brick Yard’s quest to get a permit regulating its operation as a major source of hazardous air […]

County will regulate brick plant

The Phoenix Brick Yard, operating south of downtown Phoenix for 67 years, is being pulled into the 21st century by air-quality regulations and some agitated activists. The brick-making operation, at Seventh Avenue and Mohave Street, has been classified as a major source of hazardous air pollutants. The plant is among the last batch of operations […]