Category: Protests

Billboard Is Up

The Awareness Billboard is now in place along SR 70 west of Arcadia just before entering the proposed strip mining area of Desoto County. With its dramatic colors and juxtaposition of dragline vs rural heritage, this will help bring attention to this imminent threat.

As of this week travelers leaving Arcadia and traveling west to Sarasota on State Road 70 cannot miss a new bill board imploring DeSoto County residents to reject Mosaic’s proposal to mine 18,000 acres just west of Arcadia – roughly along that part of the highway where the billboard is located. This action was approved unanimously by the 3PR Board of Directors many of who took part actively in the design and message it conveys.

Special thanks go out to all 3PR officers who took part in this project and to those members who made contributions to the cost of the sign. 

Although phosphate rock was first discovered in the Peace River in DeSoto County at the end of the 19th century it is the only county in the Bone Valley phosphate mining district that does not have an active mine within its boundaries. The economy of the county is predominantly agricultural. The annual state rodeo is held in Arcadia in an arena that now bears the name of Mosaic,  the world’s leading producer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients.

 If you wish to support our efforts to oppose phosphate mine expansion and protect  DeSoto County and the Peace River from this destructive industry please make a special contribution to our organization, 3PR (People for Protecting Peace River, Inc). You can send your contribution by PayPal or any other online payment service to [email protected] or through the Donate page on this website.

Please help us preserve real Florida from a fate that has already ravaged and will possibly destroy the integrity of one of Florida’s most beautiful river systems….

Dennis Mader

Executive Director 3PR

July 4th Parade – Arcadia

Come Join Us at the Independence Day Parade in Arcadia

 You are all invited to participate in the Independence Day Parade in downtown Arcadia next Thursday, July 4th.

3PR is currently the reigning champion in the event having won hands-down” Best Float” in the 2018 parade.

This is our opportunity to display our presence and our message to the DeSoto County community in an event which is popular, patriotic and fun!

Rachael Curran, our attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity,  will come dressed as a manatee. That in itself will make us a strong contender for first prize!

You are welcome to carry a sign. Some signs will be on hand or you can create your own. Brooks Armstrong, 3PR President, urges you to keep your slogans respectful.”Let’s stay in keeping with this event focused on the celebration of our Independence Day.”

The parade is scheduled to begin at 10 AM and we expect that it will wind down about an hour later. Participants are asked to assemble at 708 West Magnolia (708 Florida 70)  the location of the Girl Scout house on a vacant lot just west of downtown.  

See What’s Happening Out There

A letter in the Arcadian Jan 24, 2019, page A-4 in response to a previous interview with Mosaic on mining in Desoto County

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 

See what’s happening out there

Mr. Garrett, I think you need to step out of your office and check out the protests and commissioners’ meetings in other counties, because the citizens certainly don’t welcome Mosaic with open arms (Arcadian Jan. 17). Hundreds have attended or marched in opposition. The type of fertilizer application Mosaic promotes has proven detrimental to our waterways, and considering the effects on our local fisheries, is not feeding the world. The world is fed by small farms. Sustainable farming is much less harmful to the environment.

Mosaic’s VP described a Ft. Meade that is prosperous. Yet within the city center, building vacancy rate is 27.4 percent, higher than 92.9 percent of U.S. neighborhoods. Some 18.8 percent live in poverty. This doesn’t sound prosperous to me.

Mosaic has proven itself to be a poor neighbor to those who live nearby, or were forced to move due to the loss of their quality of life. The first-hand stories I have heard are heart-breaking. Mr. Schweiss brags about Mosaic’s environmental safety record, contradicted by witness accounts, and most seriously displayed by their long delay in reporting the massive gypstack sinkhole, which he tries to divert attention from. Sinkholes in regions that are mined are not a coincidence, as Mosaic’s massive use of water is not mentioned either, nor are the outflows pumping diluted pollutants into our precious creeks. Rick Scott’s DEP has removed and lowered protections, and I am proud of our own commissioners for protecting our beautiful DeSoto County. Informed people don’t greet bullies with open arms. Behind Mosaic’s glad-handing stands a big bully.

Sarah Hollenhorst

Arcadia

Phosphate Mining Battle in Bradford & Union Counties

Battle over phosphate mining roils small Fla. town

Clip: 10/31/2018 | 7m 53s    PBS NewsHour Presentation

Phosphate mining is a major industry in Florida, but it’s also a major source of pollution, responsible for red tide, toxic algal blooms and killing wildlife. In the northern part of the state, residents of a small town are resisting a man who wants to mine phosphate near their homes. Can the local government balance individual rights and with community health concerns? Laura Newberry reports.

Aired: 10/31/18

PBS NewsHour Video 10-31-18