Union County commissioners voted on Tuesday to extend through February 2019 its moratorium on accepting and processing applications for special-use permits that will allow phosphate mining. Union County officials will discuss the issue several more times this year as it reviews its land development regulations and comprehensive plan, said Dianne Hannon , Union County Commission secretary.

However, a special-use permit application to mine for phosphates submitted by HPS Enterprises -- a partnership formed by the Hazen, Howard, Pritchett and Shadd families, who combined own thousands of acres in Bradford and Union Counties -- is still pending in Bradford County .

HPS has plans to mine some 7,400 acres combined in Union and Bradford counties, stripping away trees, vegetation, sand and clay to dig 35 to 40 feet below the surface to extract phosphate. Its application for a permit to mine for phosphate in Bradford County is pending, Bradford County Attorney Will Sexton said.

Currently, the issue isn't scheduled to be discussed at any Bradford County Commission meetings or public hearings in the near future, Sexton said.

"I think we are looking at having a public hearing on the issue within the next six months or less," Sexton said.

Bradford County has hired Onsite Environmental Consulting of Jacksonville to help it review the special use permit application submitted by HPS because the county doesn't have the expertise to do so, Sexton said.

Onsite Environmental Consulting is providing Bradford County with the scientific expertise needed to evaluate the impacts phosphate mining will have on the environment and to review the measures HPS says it will use to mitigate those impacts, Sexton said.

Two years ago, public opposition grew toward plans for the proposed phosphate mine that would cover thousands of acres in Union and Bradford counties. The New River , a tributary of the Lower Santa Fe River and the dividing line between the counties, runs through the area of timberland, pasture and woods.

Supporters of the proposed mine say it will bring jobs and economic development. Opponents say it won't bear the promised economic gain for the community and will damage the environment.

According to the HPS website, the company's mining would create more than 150 jobs, increase ad valorem taxes collected in Bradford and Union counties by 28 percent and add more than $155 million to the area's economy.

The families that formed HPS have lived in Bradford and Union counties for years, and have a vested interest in returning the land to productive use for wildlife, agriculture and other purposes after mining has taken place, Jim Taylor , an attorney representing HPS, said in an editorial published in The Sun last year.

Phosphate, which has been mined in Florida since the late 1800s, is an essential source for nutrients critical to support a growing population, Taylor said.

The phosphate industry in Florida has a long history of accidents, environmental destruction and bankruptcy, leaving behind millions in liabilities that taxpayers have had to clean up, according to Jim Tatum of Fort White , a retired university professor.

Although the law requires that land used for phosphate mining be returned to its original use, the process takes years and the land is never as good or as productive as before, according to Tatum.

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