Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis signed a bill Thursday permitting roads in Florida to be created with "radioactive" mining waste linked to cancer.
The state House measure adds phosphogypsum to roadbuilding's "recyclable materials" list.
Ground rubber from tires, ash residue from coal combustion byproducts, recycled mixed-plastic, glass,
Construction steel were "part of the solid waste stream and that contribute to problems of declining space in landfills.
Phosphogypsum doesn't go in landfills. The EPA deems it "radioactive material" because it contains "small amounts" of uranium and radium.
The residual phosphogypsum from fertilizer mining contains decaying radon-producing components.
An EPA representative told CBS News that the chemical is "potentially cancer-causing, radioactive gas."
The Clean Air Act requires that phosphogypsum be controlled in engineered stacks to reduce public exposure to radon and other radionuclides in the material.