Date Published: 09/28/2007 [Source]
Attorney calls county mining policies 'ironic'
After spending $9 million in recent years trying to stop phosphate mining in other counties, Charlotte County is now poised to approve several dozen dirt mines within its own boundaries.
Ironically, at least one of those mines has now recently been found to contain phosphate ore, and that has triggered a concern over groundwater with radioactive elements. That's because radon and its decay products are often found along with phosphate ores, according to a recent exchange of e-mails between a county staffer and a state mine-permitting official.