The Board of Investment has already carried out studies and we only have to finalise the conditions for the investment,'' he told IPS in Washington. We are not going to try and do anything different in Sri Lanka from what we do in Florida. The state has very high environmental standards and we will try and apply the same,'' he said. But North American scientists point out that the environmental impact of phosphate mining in Florida, where IMC- Agrico unearths a third of the United States phosphate output, has been significant. Some 20 stacks of phosphogypsum, a waste material from phosphate mining, that tower ten stories high occupy 400 acres of the Florida landscape.
Accidents happen often in the industry, despite strict regulation.
Earlier this month, some 50 million gallons of highly toxic phosphoric acid water was discharged into the Alfia river by Mulberry Phosphates and killed thousands of fish. Freeport has also been cited for dumping radioactive gypsum into the Mississipi river in Louisiana where the company has its headquarters. Companies will have until the year 2000 to cover up the waste stacks to prevent rainwater from entering. From that year all new stacks will have to be built with a double liner to prevent groundwater contamination,'' he says. The EPA says that radium is a human carcinogen, with additional risks for women who become susceptible to breast cancer.