U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Invites Public to Collaborate at Phosphate Mining Workshop
Outreach event to take place in Central Florida Phosphate District

By Nancy Sticht

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District invites interested members of the public to attend a free workshop on phosphate mining, October 6-7 at The Lakeland Center, 701 West Lime Street, Lakeland, Fla. Pre-registration is requested and may be completed by visiting this Website.

Jacksonville District will soon begin development of an area-wide Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to examine the potential impacts of mining in the CFPD. “This is just the first of several opportunities that the public will have to provide input and play a key role in the federal decision-making process,” said Tunis McElwain, chief of the Corps’ Fort Myers Regulatory field office and the leader of Jacksonville District’s Mining Project Delivery Team. “We want this process to be completely transparent, so we are designing it with openness and collaboration in mind.”

The workshop will feature an interactive design that will incorporate presentations by the Corps and other stakeholders, question-and-answer sessions and participatory open forums. Sessions will be held on Wednesday, October 6 from 8:30 a.m. to noon, from 1 to 4:30 p.m. and from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. A workshop recap, open for public observation, will take place on Thursday, October 7 between 9 a.m. and noon. Participants may register to give a 10-minute presentation and/or to attend as many of the workshop sessions as desired