Letter to the Arcadian – The Future After Phosphate Mining

An excellent letter by Candace Lawless. A vision of the results of relentless mining of phosphate and the devastating effects on all we hold dear.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

No more sitting outside

To the Editor

I am a 30-year resident of Hidden Acres. You ask how I think phosphate mining will affect me. For all these years the threat has loomed over us. At my age, I will probably not see the devastation first hand. The first thing to go will be the well, as the mining sucks the water up. The polluted dust will be everywhere, AC a must at all times. No more sitting outside.

The rumble noise will be a constant irritant. The creek will just die; if we are lucky, it will dry up—the alternative is total poisoning when it floods any land the flooding touches … and it will flood. The birds will be gone, the bees and insects gone. Without them, the plants will go next.

Pine Level, which is a particularly pretty area, will be a moonscape. After reclamation, it will never ever be the same. I’ve been to Mulberry via (CR) 663 to (SR) 37; I have seen the strange landscape there. I first saw the moonscape up near 14 years ago when my job had me traveling the state. What a shock! The children’s lives will be the worst, the cancer, the shortened lifespans, the breathing problems.

I have told people I will probably never set foot into the bribery arena; I feel strongly that the people are being sold out.

Candace Lawless

Arcadia