“Unsolicited Proposal” for rock mine is withdrawn, but remaining active permit applications clearly indicate U.S. Sugar, Florida Crystals, and Phillips & Jordan are still full steam ahead on their attempt to mine in the Everglades Agricultural Area.
A proposal by a major construction company that would have resulted in catastrophic mining operations in the Everglades was recently withdrawn…sort of. Let’s explain.
We’ve been posting real-time updates to this evolving situation for the past couple weeks, uncovering shocking information along the way—to see those updates, check out our Instagram page, or read on here for everything we know so far.
The proposal, submitted by Phillips & Jordan (a large-scale construction and engineering company who has been contracted for other Everglades Restoration projects), had been quietly advancing under the guise of a beneficial water resource project in the Everglades Agricultural Area, on land owned by Florida Crystals and U.S. Sugar.
Upon discovering it, we quickly began gathering information about the project scope and analyzing potential implications.
What we found deepened our concerns, confirming our suspicions that, indeed, Big Sugar and cohorts are attempting to launch large-scale mining operations in the Everglades, in direct proximity to the critical EAA Reservoir.
Then, as we were preparing to rally our troops into action, the proposal was abruptly withdrawn in the wake of the statewide backlash surrounding the state parks golf course controversy.
But upon closer review of their withdrawal letter, it appears they’re only withdrawing the effort through one specific process, and it’s obvious that they’re still actively pursuing the project through alternate paths.
While the withdrawal comes as a momentary relief, this story is far from over. To break it all down, it’s best that we go back to the beginning.
The proposal: A wolf in sheep’s clothing
On July 1st, Phillips & Jordan, in coordination with U.S. Sugar and Florida Crystals, submitted an unsolicited proposal to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) for what they’re calling the “Southland Water Resource Project” in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA).
At face value, the proposal boasts that this project “would make available an additional +/-100,000 to 120,000 acre/feet of functioning low hazard water storage with conveyance facilities constructed on approximately 8,000 acres for use within the Everglades region…”
However, deeper analysis reveals a glaring motive—a private attempt to mine high-value rock on land in the EAA that is no longer viable for farming sugarcane after decades of industrial mono-crop operations that degraded the soil. And further, another attempt by special interests to profit off the land where the River of Grass once flowed freely.
Based on a slew of indicators, it appears that the impetus behind this project is the roughly $800 million worth of rock that could be mined in the process—and the potential for a lot more throughout the rest of the 700,000-acre EAA.
The implicating documentation
As we dug further into the proposal, we uncovered early applications going all the way back to December of 2023, when the Southland Group submitted a Class A Conditional Use permit application for Type III B Excavation to the Palm Beach County Zoning Division.
Then in February of 2024, an Environmental Resource Permit application was filed with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).
Within that application, one section titled “Supplemental Information for Stormwater Management Systems for Mines” reveals the true colors of this project.
In that section, their description of the project specifies that a reservoir will be excavated to a depth of 15 feet and that the first phase would include construction of an onsite processing facility and railway “to transport the excavated, high-quality limestone aggregate to central Florida to support the state’s road construction needs. The excavated material will be sorted, washed, and graded onsite for rail transport offsite.” That sounds a lot like a rock mine…
It goes on to detail that “The annual average production of excavated material is anticipated to be 1.4 million yards […] It is anticipated that approximately half (50%) of tailings produced will be either sold as product or re-used in the construction of embankments for the water storage reservoirs…”
But worst of all is their estimation of the duration of “construction,” AKA mining operations, as the permit states, “The construction phase of the project is anticipated to span twenty (20) or more years.”
20 YEARS!! That means that even if there was any sort of restoration benefit expected from this, it wouldn’t be realized for another 20 years!
Other documents revealed that the application lists the South Florida Water Management District as the end user. However, the Operation and Maintenance Entity is listed as Palm Beach Aggregates, LLC, a company whose primary business revolves around mining and selling aggregates for construction and development.
Putting all these puzzle pieces together, more red flags began to reveal themselves with every new connection made.
Red flag: landowners, location, and proximity
The proposed project would be constructed on 23 parcels of land—primarily owned by Florida Crystals and U.S. Sugar—immediately to the north of the crown-jewel Everglades restoration project, the EAA Reservoir. That’s the same critical project under construction that both Florida Crystals and U.S. Sugar are actively suing the Army Corps of Engineers over.
The fact that Phillips & Jordan Cc’ed representatives from Florida Crystals and U.S. Sugar on their formal communications with FDEP further reinforces the collaborative and underhanded nature of this rock mining proposal.
We’d love to believe that “Big Sugar” has had a sudden change of heart and is generously offering up their land for restoration projects directly adjacent to the project they are suing for operational control over, but if that were the case, we would’ve seen an ad campaign from them by now.
Red flag: duplicitous engineering
Another “rock mining red flag” is revealed in the design of the proposed reservoir, engineered to be a largely in-ground storage project, a concept contrary to all other major reservoir projects within the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), like the EAA Reservoir and the C-43/C-44 Reservoirs which are constructed above-ground.
While the design of those other projects required limited surface excavation and relied on massive above ground embankments to create the storage reservoir, the design of this project called for an excavation depth of 15 feet!
With the delicate hydrogeology of the Everglades region, what are the implications of such a design? What are the unknown impacts to the critical Biscayne Aquifer below the surface—the drinking water supply for 9 million Floridians? How effective would such a water storage design be considering potential issues like groundwater intrusion or aquifer interaction?
In our remarks on this project at a recent South Florida Water Management District governing board meeting, our Executive Director, Capt. Daniel Andrews said, “I’ve attended many meetings on Everglades Restoration in the past 8 and a half years, and all of the projects, they look very different […] They are not holes in the ground that are a byproduct of a mining operation.”
The plan’s inclusion of a dedicated railway to offsite the excavated material, aka the mined rock, signals a long-term plan could be at play and that this could open the door for largescale mining operations in the Everglades in the future.
A threat to Everglades Restoration and beyond
Motives aside, rock mining operations in the Everglades could have devastating consequences for not only our waters, but for the communities and people who rely on them.
Such aggressive operations conducted so close to the most important Everglades Restoration project (the EAA Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area) have us doubling down on due diligence to ensure that the involved decision-makers don’t proceed with a project that could lead to irreparable harm for the Everglades and South Florida’s ecosystems.
We’re concerned about impact stress to the aquifer, and the cascading effects that could have to the area. But we’re also worried about impact stress to and potential interference with nearby CERP projects—not only considering availability of lands but also contamination of water supply vital to restoring the flow south.
Most importantly, though, it sets the wrong precedent for how to best use this landscape in the future. It sets the precedent that this land—once critical Everglades wetlands now increasingly fallow sugar farmland—can be sold to the highest bidder for high-impact operations like mining.
What we need is for this land to be returned to a more natural state through expanded stormwater treatment areas—engineered wetlands featuring beneficial aquatic vegetation that can help clean more water from Lake Okeechobee and send it south through the Everglades.
If we mine down to 15 feet, stormwater treatment areas are no longer an option, and the effectiveness of pure water storage is unclear.
What we’ve learned from mining in the EAA
This is far from the first time that special interests have tried to mine in the Everglades Agricultural Area.
In the 2000’s there were several plays to mine the area, culminating in major court cases and, ultimately, a tight set of procedures for any future consideration to such large-scale excavation efforts.
A great deal of research was conducted on the potential impacts of mining, and the results were scary. In fact, in 2010, the Clean Water Fund published a report that outlined the following findings:
- Aquifer conditions in the EAA are unpredictably porous and prone to structural damage; it is difficult to forecast this structural damage on a case-by-case basis.
- Groundwater seepage flow through the limestone aquifer is a vitally important yet sensitive process that provides Floridians with clean drinking water; structural damage to the aquifer could interrupt this natural flow and cause regional harm.
- Excavated mines are not safe for water storage, as contamination is likely.
- The toxins used in rock mining can have serious – potentially even fatal – impacts on the Everglades ecosystem and its native wildlife.
- State and federal agencies have determined Everglades Restoration (CERP) projects to be of fundamental importance with regard to storing and treating water for the entire state. Palm Beach County must ensure that rock mining does not interfere with currently planned or future CERP initiatives.
The study went on to detail that “the continued presence of rock mining operations may pose significant and specific threats to the health of our most valuable resource – water,” including:
- Increased concentrations of mercury, sulphate, phosphate and nitrate: These chemicals pose significant threat to the health of drinking water to residents, as well as to the fragile Everglades ecosystem and its wildlife. Groundwater connection from the mines will result in decreased effectiveness of stormwater treatment areas (STAs). Scientific analysis has shown that at 50 feet below ground in the EAA, sulfate concentrations are 250-400 mg/L, compared to 3-30 mg/L in lakes. Sulphate is transformed into methylmercury when exposed to mercury, which naturally occurs in the atmosphere; “the effects of methylmercury exposure on wildlife can include mortality, reduced fertility, slower growth and development and abnormal behavior that affects survival. Additionally, methylmercury contributes to eutrophication and toxic algae accumulation.”
- Post-mining flooding of mined voids and discharge of untreated water: In surface mines such as those in the EAA, “water quality can deteriorate when backfilled materials are initially saturated after restoration,” and “the flooding of open pit mines to form pit lakes can also cause water quality to deteriorate.” This could lead to dangerous results if excavated mines are used for water storage, or if these vacant mines become filled with water and then overflow due to extreme rainfall or hurricanes.
In recent decades, we’ve learned the hard way that significantly altering the natural Everglades has had devastating consequences for Florida’s waters and is costing taxpayers billions to restore.
And while half a million acres of this altered landscape is sugarcane today, it would be foolish to repeat the mistakes of the past, taking an impaired landscape with opportunity to salvage and turning it into an irreparable catastrophe.
Withdrawn…for now
Now to the group’s half-hearted proposal withdrawal. On September 3rd, U.S. Sugar, Florida Crystals, and Phillips & Jordan submitted a withdrawal letter to the South Florida Water Management District for the project.
However, in the letter, they make it clear that they’re really only withdrawing the proposal from the SFWMD Public-Private process, and that they’re continuing to pursue the project through other processes.
They claim they’re withdrawing because the normal unsolicited proposal process does not apply to their project, stating, “After further review of the District Public-Private partnership process we feel that the process as prescribed and enacted does not apply to the Southland Water Resource Project.”
BUT in that same letter, they still asked the SFWMD to send a letter to Palm Beach County declaring their project a beneficial water resource project, which is one of the exceptions to get around the County’s prohibition against general commercial mining in the EAA.
“As we continue to move forward with the project, we respectfully request that the Letter of Project Identification be executed and delivered in a timely manner.”
That designation from the water management district is particularly dangerous because it’s the loophole they are going to use to try to argue for a fast track to approval from Palm Beach County and a clear path to mining operations.
Basically, they’re trying to bypass the normal public process for this type of proposal because they want to dodge public input as much as they can.
What can we expect next?
When we attended the SFWMD public meeting on Sep. 12th, there was no indication from the Executive Director that the District would be sending that critical Letter of Project identification. If that holds course, this initial proposal will be squashed, but just for now.
We at Captains firmly believe this effort isn’t going anywhere, and that we’ll likely be dealing with it again in some form or another soon.
Our hunch: it will float back up through statute this upcoming State Legislative Session in January.
Whether it resurfaces during Legislative Session or if they find some other backdoor option to push, one thing is certain: this is not over.
That’s why we’re sounding the alarm on this quiet attempt and calling attention to these threats that linger.
At some point in the near future, this WILL be an issue that we need you to use your voice and take action on. We know that much is true.
When that time comes, we’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, the best thing you can do to be ready to answer the call is sign up for our action alerts.
This is by far the best way to stay involved, so that when we need your voice, you’re ready to fight with us.
Thank you for all the support so far and stay tuned for updates.
“Unsolicited Proposal” for rock mine is withdrawn, but remaining active permit applications clearly indicate U.S. Sugar, Florida Crystals, and Phillips & Jordan are still full steam ahead on their attempt to mine in the Everglades Agricultural Area.
A proposal by a major construction company that would have resulted in catastrophic mining operations in the Everglades was recently withdrawn…sort of. Let’s explain.
We’ve been posting real-time updates to this evolving situation for the past couple weeks, uncovering shocking information along the way—to see those updates, check out our Instagram page, or read on here for everything we know so far.
The proposal, submitted by Phillips & Jordan (a large-scale construction and engineering company who has been contracted for other Everglades Restoration projects), had been quietly advancing under the guise of a beneficial water resource project in the Everglades Agricultural Area, on land owned by Florida Crystals and U.S. Sugar.
Upon discovering it, we quickly began gathering information about the project scope and analyzing potential implications.
What we found deepened our concerns, confirming our suspicions that, indeed, Big Sugar and cohorts are attempting to launch large-scale mining operations in the Everglades, in direct proximity to the critical EAA Reservoir.
Then, as we were preparing to rally our troops into action, the proposal was abruptly withdrawn in the wake of the statewide backlash surrounding the state parks golf course controversy.
But upon closer review of their withdrawal letter, it appears they’re only withdrawing the effort through one specific process, and it’s obvious that they’re still actively pursuing the project through alternate paths.
While the withdrawal comes as a momentary relief, this story is far from over. To break it all down, it’s best that we go back to the beginning.
The proposal: A wolf in sheep’s clothing
On July 1st, Phillips & Jordan, in coordination with U.S. Sugar and Florida Crystals, submitted an unsolicited proposal to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) for what they’re calling the “Southland Water Resource Project” in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA).
At face value, the proposal boasts that this project “would make available an additional +/-100,000 to 120,000 acre/feet of functioning low hazard water storage with conveyance facilities constructed on approximately 8,000 acres for use within the Everglades region…”
However, deeper analysis reveals a glaring motive—a private attempt to mine high-value rock on land in the EAA that is no longer viable for farming sugarcane after decades of industrial mono-crop operations that degraded the soil. And further, another attempt by special interests to profit off the land where the River of Grass once flowed freely.
Based on a slew of indicators, it appears that the impetus behind this project is the roughly $800 million worth of rock that could be mined in the process—and the potential for a lot more throughout the rest of the 700,000-acre EAA.
The implicating documentation
As we dug further into the proposal, we uncovered early applications going all the way back to December of 2023, when the Southland Group submitted a Class A Conditional Use permit application for Type III B Excavation to the Palm Beach County Zoning Division.
Then in February of 2024, an Environmental Resource Permit application was filed with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).
Within that application, one section titled “Supplemental Information for Stormwater Management Systems for Mines” reveals the true colors of this project.
In that section, their description of the project specifies that a reservoir will be excavated to a depth of 15 feet and that the first phase would include construction of an onsite processing facility and railway “to transport the excavated, high-quality limestone aggregate to central Florida to support the state’s road construction needs. The excavated material will be sorted, washed, and graded onsite for rail transport offsite.” That sounds a lot like a rock mine…
It goes on to detail that “The annual average production of excavated material is anticipated to be 1.4 million yards […] It is anticipated that approximately half (50%) of tailings produced will be either sold as product or re-used in the construction of embankments for the water storage reservoirs…”
But worst of all is their estimation of the duration of “construction,” AKA mining operations, as the permit states, “The construction phase of the project is anticipated to span twenty (20) or more years.”
20 YEARS!! That means that even if there was any sort of restoration benefit expected from this, it wouldn’t be realized for another 20 years!
Other documents revealed that the application lists the South Florida Water Management District as the end user. However, the Operation and Maintenance Entity is listed as Palm Beach Aggregates, LLC, a company whose primary business revolves around mining and selling aggregates for construction and development.
Putting all these puzzle pieces together, more red flags began to reveal themselves with every new connection made.
Red flag: landowners, location, and proximity
The proposed project would be constructed on 23 parcels of land—primarily owned by Florida Crystals and U.S. Sugar—immediately to the north of the crown-jewel Everglades restoration project, the EAA Reservoir. That’s the same critical project under construction that both Florida Crystals and U.S. Sugar are actively suing the Army Corps of Engineers over.
The fact that Phillips & Jordan Cc’ed representatives from Florida Crystals and U.S. Sugar on their formal communications with FDEP further reinforces the collaborative and underhanded nature of this rock mining proposal.
We’d love to believe that “Big Sugar” has had a sudden change of heart and is generously offering up their land for restoration projects directly adjacent to the project they are suing for operational control over, but if that were the case, we would’ve seen an ad campaign from them by now.
Red flag: duplicitous engineering
Another “rock mining red flag” is revealed in the design of the proposed reservoir, engineered to be a largely in-ground storage project, a concept contrary to all other major reservoir projects within the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), like the EAA Reservoir and the C-43/C-44 Reservoirs which are constructed above-ground.
While the design of those other projects required limited surface excavation and relied on massive above ground embankments to create the storage reservoir, the design of this project called for an excavation depth of 15 feet!
With the delicate hydrogeology of the Everglades region, what are the implications of such a design? What are the unknown impacts to the critical Biscayne Aquifer below the surface—the drinking water supply for 9 million Floridians? How effective would such a water storage design be considering potential issues like groundwater intrusion or aquifer interaction?
In our remarks on this project at a recent South Florida Water Management District governing board meeting, our Executive Director, Capt. Daniel Andrews said, “I’ve attended many meetings on Everglades Restoration in the past 8 and a half years, and all of the projects, they look very different […] They are not holes in the ground that are a byproduct of a mining operation.”
The plan’s inclusion of a dedicated railway to offsite the excavated material, aka the mined rock, signals a long-term plan could be at play and that this could open the door for largescale mining operations in the Everglades in the future.
A threat to Everglades Restoration and beyond
Motives aside, rock mining operations in the Everglades could have devastating consequences for not only our waters, but for the communities and people who rely on them.
Such aggressive operations conducted so close to the most important Everglades Restoration project (the EAA Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area) have us doubling down on due diligence to ensure that the involved decision-makers don’t proceed with a project that could lead to irreparable harm for the Everglades and South Florida’s ecosystems.
We’re concerned about impact stress to the aquifer, and the cascading effects that could have to the area. But we’re also worried about impact stress to and potential interference with nearby CERP projects—not only considering availability of lands but also contamination of water supply vital to restoring the flow south.
Most importantly, though, it sets the wrong precedent for how to best use this landscape in the future. It sets the precedent that this land—once critical Everglades wetlands now increasingly fallow sugar farmland—can be sold to the highest bidder for high-impact operations like mining.
What we need is for this land to be returned to a more natural state through expanded stormwater treatment areas—engineered wetlands featuring beneficial aquatic vegetation that can help clean more water from Lake Okeechobee and send it south through the Everglades.
If we mine down to 15 feet, stormwater treatment areas are no longer an option, and the effectiveness of pure water storage is unclear.
What we’ve learned from mining in the EAA
This is far from the first time that special interests have tried to mine in the Everglades Agricultural Area.
In the 2000’s there were several plays to mine the area, culminating in major court cases and, ultimately, a tight set of procedures for any future consideration to such large-scale excavation efforts.
A great deal of research was conducted on the potential impacts of mining, and the results were scary. In fact, in 2010, the Clean Water Fund published a report that outlined the following findings:
- Aquifer conditions in the EAA are unpredictably porous and prone to structural damage; it is difficult to forecast this structural damage on a case-by-case basis.
- Groundwater seepage flow through the limestone aquifer is a vitally important yet sensitive process that provides Floridians with clean drinking water; structural damage to the aquifer could interrupt this natural flow and cause regional harm.
- Excavated mines are not safe for water storage, as contamination is likely.
- The toxins used in rock mining can have serious – potentially even fatal – impacts on the Everglades ecosystem and its native wildlife.
- State and federal agencies have determined Everglades Restoration (CERP) projects to be of fundamental importance with regard to storing and treating water for the entire state. Palm Beach County must ensure that rock mining does not interfere with currently planned or future CERP initiatives.
The study went on to detail that “the continued presence of rock mining operations may pose significant and specific threats to the health of our most valuable resource – water,” including:
- Increased concentrations of mercury, sulphate, phosphate and nitrate: These chemicals pose significant threat to the health of drinking water to residents, as well as to the fragile Everglades ecosystem and its wildlife. Groundwater connection from the mines will result in decreased effectiveness of stormwater treatment areas (STAs). Scientific analysis has shown that at 50 feet below ground in the EAA, sulfate concentrations are 250-400 mg/L, compared to 3-30 mg/L in lakes. Sulphate is transformed into methylmercury when exposed to mercury, which naturally occurs in the atmosphere; “the effects of methylmercury exposure on wildlife can include mortality, reduced fertility, slower growth and development and abnormal behavior that affects survival. Additionally, methylmercury contributes to eutrophication and toxic algae accumulation.”
- Post-mining flooding of mined voids and discharge of untreated water: In surface mines such as those in the EAA, “water quality can deteriorate when backfilled materials are initially saturated after restoration,” and “the flooding of open pit mines to form pit lakes can also cause water quality to deteriorate.” This could lead to dangerous results if excavated mines are used for water storage, or if these vacant mines become filled with water and then overflow due to extreme rainfall or hurricanes.
In recent decades, we’ve learned the hard way that significantly altering the natural Everglades has had devastating consequences for Florida’s waters and is costing taxpayers billions to restore.
And while half a million acres of this altered landscape is sugarcane today, it would be foolish to repeat the mistakes of the past, taking an impaired landscape with opportunity to salvage and turning it into an irreparable catastrophe.
Withdrawn…for now
Now to the group’s half-hearted proposal withdrawal. On September 3rd, U.S. Sugar, Florida Crystals, and Phillips & Jordan submitted a withdrawal letter to the South Florida Water Management District for the project.
However, in the letter, they make it clear that they’re really only withdrawing the proposal from the SFWMD Public-Private process, and that they’re continuing to pursue the project through other processes.
They claim they’re withdrawing because the normal unsolicited proposal process does not apply to their project, stating, “After further review of the District Public-Private partnership process we feel that the process as prescribed and enacted does not apply to the Southland Water Resource Project.”
BUT in that same letter, they still asked the SFWMD to send a letter to Palm Beach County declaring their project a beneficial water resource project, which is one of the exceptions to get around the County’s prohibition against general commercial mining in the EAA.
“As we continue to move forward with the project, we respectfully request that the Letter of Project Identification be executed and delivered in a timely manner.”
That designation from the water management district is particularly dangerous because it’s the loophole they are going to use to try to argue for a fast track to approval from Palm Beach County and a clear path to mining operations.
Basically, they’re trying to bypass the normal public process for this type of proposal because they want to dodge public input as much as they can.
What can we expect next?
When we attended the SFWMD public meeting on Sep. 12th, there was no indication from the Executive Director that the District would be sending that critical Letter of Project identification. If that holds course, this initial proposal will be squashed, but just for now.
We at Captains firmly believe this effort isn’t going anywhere, and that we’ll likely be dealing with it again in some form or another soon.
Our hunch: it will float back up through statute this upcoming State Legislative Session in January.
Whether it resurfaces during Legislative Session or if they find some other backdoor option to push, one thing is certain: this is not over.
That’s why we’re sounding the alarm on this quiet attempt and calling attention to these threats that linger.
At some point in the near future, this WILL be an issue that we need you to use your voice and take action on. We know that much is true.
When that time comes, we’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, the best thing you can do to be ready to answer the call is sign up for our action alerts.
This is by far the best way to stay involved, so that when we need your voice, you’re ready to fight with us.
Thank you for all the support so far and stay tuned for updates.