DeSoto County Commission denies Mosaic's rezoning request for phosphate mining

ARCADIA – After two days and 11 hours of hearings, DeSoto County Commissioners voted 4 to 1, denying Mosaic's request to rezone 14,000 acres between State Road 72 and State Road 70 in Arcadia from Agricultural land to Phosphate Mining Industrial land.

"True satisfaction would be they shut down their mines in the state of Florida," said Lee Richardson, a Charlotte County resident opposed to Mosaic. "They figure out a new way to do this type of mining and leave our water districts alone."

Back in 2016, Mosaic made national headlines after a huge sinkhole at their Mulberry location dumped 215-million gallons of what the company says was slightly radioactive water into the aquifer. Commissioners heard from more than a hundred residents from Manatee, Charlotte, DeSoto and Charlotte counties who are opposed to this. People who spoke out against it had some major concerns, especially since the land in question is right up against some waterways including Horse Creek.