Mosaic hopes for Wingate Mine expansion by spring
DUETTE -- Mosaic Co., world's largest manufacturer of phosphate-based chemical fertilizers, expects to be approved to begin digging up 3,700 acres of East Manatee County farmland next summer.
The acreage, an extension of mining operations at the company's 11,000-acre Wingate Creek phosphate mine on the border with Hardee County, is part of a shift of Mosaic's business to south central Florida and Manatee County in particular. If approved, a rezone for the company's so-called Wingate East lands would sustain mining there for another two decades.
Mosaic plans have an even bigger presence in Manatee County in the coming years. Its planned 40,000-acre DeSoto mine straddles DeSoto County and southeastern Manatee County. About half of the acreage is in Manatee County. All of it, including 9,000 acres owned by others where Mosaic owns the mining rights, may well be mined in coming decades as the company pursues the raw materials it needs to make its fertilizers.
Company officials are counting on the Manatee County Board of Commissioners to rezone its Wingate East acreage and approve a master mining plan in late winter or spring. When Wingate East opens, it will be the biggest-ever chunk of new mining lands Mosaic has opened in the county. The new master plan makes Manatee County a major part of Mosaic's mining operations for the next 60 to 70 years.
If history is an indicator, there is only a small chance that Mosaic won't get what it wants. The company applied for the Wingate East rezone just over a year ago. Thus far, company officials say, the application has not encountered any snags. But if it does, Mosaic would find a way to work it out.
"We work to find a solution that benefits both sides," said Jackie Barron, a spokeswoman for the Wingate mine.
It hasn't always been like this. A similar expansion request in 2008 for a then-new mining tract at Mosaic's Four Corners mine in northeast manatee county was turned down by the Manatee County Board of Commissioners in 2008 when commissioners decided it lacked adequate wetland protections.
Mosaic threatened to sue for $617 million if the commission did not allow the project to go forward. The matter was settled with no financial penalty after two new commissioners were elected later that year and approved a modified mine plan. For its part, Mosaic modified its request to add more wetlands protections. It also donated land and built Bunker Hill Park in Duette as part of the settlement.
Approval of a 661-acre extension of the Wingate Creek Mine in 2012 went a bit more smoothly, with the county commission approving it on a 4-3 vote. Commissioners opposing were concerned about losing agricultural lands to mining and the destruction of wetlands on the property.
Mosaic also received county approval last summer of a master mining plan that will allow it to dig into 272 acres at Four Corners formerly farmed by fruit and vegetable producer Wish Farms. The finals step is approval of an operating permit that will be discussed Jan. 7 at a county land use meeting. Commissioner Robin DiSabatino, was the only county board member to vote against that expansion. She also voted against the expansions at the Four Corners parcel and at Wingate in 2012.
A number of county residents objected to that expansion, citing issues with noise, light pollution and airborne dust. John Henslick, a resident of Winding Creek, a housing subdivision on the southern edge of the mine, pushed the county at that time to make sure mining operations did not unduly disturb nearby residents.
Three years on, Henslick said he has been pleased with the company's care in dealing with complaints and concerns from him and his neighbors. Recently appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to fill a vacancy on the governing board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, he said living by the mine isn't perfect. But he believes Mosaic lives up to its obligations.
"We've heard the mine some," Henslick said. "I would only try to make sure anything they had agreed to in the public hearings that is a condition of the permits for past work that all those things have been fulfilled."
Bart Arrington, Mosaic's senior permitting manager for the Wingate mine, characterized the company's latest request as a natural follow on to the 2012 expansion at Wingate. He said the permitting process requires the company to restore the land after mining to its natural state.
"The Mosaic team has spent years developing comprehensive and detailed permit applications to ensure the future of the Wingate Mine complies with the required local, state and federal permitting requirements," he said.
For the county, expanded mining means money. Mosaic claims that it will pay $16 million in property taxes against Wingate East alone. It has also estimated that it will pay $18 million in severance taxes, a tax imposed on the removal of non-renewable resources.
What the expansion may not do for the county's economy is drive job creation. Barron said Wingate's workforce of 143 full-time employees will likely remain about the same as operations move into Wingate East. Statewide, Mosaic employs about 4,000 people full time. The company also employs up to 12,000 contract workers in Florida, Barron said.
Staff with the county's environmental resources department say they are still reviewing Mosaic's master mining application. The department has not yet scheduled a date to bring a recommendation to the county planning commission or board of commissioners.
Members of the public may comment on the plan and the rezone at the as-yet unscheduled planning commission and commission hearings. Written comments may be submitted to individual commissioners, the county planning department and the county's natural resources department.
Mining at the site may only start once the mine has an operating permit from the county. Arrington said getting that permit would take about a month after the mining plan and rezone are approved.
What's in a mine?
Located about two miles west of the DeSoto County line off State Road 64, Wingate Creek Mine doesn't stand out because it's so big. Part of a larger complex of Mosaic owned lands that span portions of Hillsborough, Polk, Hardee and Manatee counties, it would almost completely blend in with nearby farmland but for a few areas where massive berms contain man-made lakes and settling ponds.
Getting to the heart of the operation requires a 10-minute drive down a narrow dirt road largely occupied by loaded 18 wheelers. Aside from a pipeline running alongside the road that transports a slurry of phosphate rock, sand and water throughout the mine zone, there are few other built features to see. The exception is about a dozen signs posted at intervals beside the road exclaiming company slogans including "Our first priority is workplace safety" and "Our right to mine requires preserving the environment."
At the end of that track is a collection of portable buildings used as offices and a multi-story phosphate washing facility that sits atop the former grazing land like a steel spider. A chute extending from the top of the plant slowly spews a pile of fine, coal-black phosphate that grows with each load of rock that comes out of the ground. Up to 120 trucks line up throughout the day to haul it to the company's New Wales processing plant.
Much of the 1.5 million tons of phosphate mined annually at Wingate comes out of a shallow, man-made lake a few hundred yards beyond the plant. Twenty-four hours a day, a massive barge that resembles a floating factory blasts phosphate out of the bottom of the lake in an operation that would be near-silent but for the whine of hydraulic and conveyor equipment on board.
That phosphate is flowed to the washing plant through the pipeline network. Similar pipes then take the waste water away from the plant to deposit it in an acres-wide holding pond more than a mile away on Duette Road.
Using water to recover phosphate is one of two mining methods used in the phosphate industry. At Mosaic's other Manatee County operation, the 58,000-acre Four Corners mine partially located in northeast Manatee County, miners use huge steel scoops pulled on a dragline system to remove 15 to 50 feet of earth to get at the phosphate layer. The company plans to use dragline mining on a portion of Wingate East on the east side of Duette Road.
The expected new mining at Wingate East is part of Mosaic's 380,000 acres state wide. The company plans to make the most of its holdings. Company officials acknowledge that less phosphate-rich land is available in Florida. That puts an expiration date on phosphate mining in Florida, albeit one that is far in the future.
Home to 28 of the nation's 78 known phosphate deposits, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, Florida is expected to be a productive source for the resource for the next seven decades.
Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027 or on Twitter@MattAtBradenton.
This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Mosaic hopes for Wingate Mine expansion by spring ."