Editing Hardee County, Florida (section)

==Geography==
According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|638|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|638|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|0.6|sqmi}} (0.1%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

Hardee County is located in a region colloquially referred to as "[[Bone Valley]]." The region contains most of North America's phosphate deposits and a large portion of the world's accessible deposits.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Phosphate Primer |url=https://fipr.floridapoly.edu/about-us/phosphate-primer/other-phosphate-deposits.php |access-date=October 9, 2023 |website=Florida Polytechnic University}}</ref> Commercial[[Phosphate mining in the United States|Phosphate]] mining in the region that is now the county has been ongoing since the late 19th century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Florida's Phosphate Mines |url=https://floridadep.gov/water/mining-mitigation/content/phosphate |access-date=October 9, 2023 |website=Florida Department of Environmental Protection}}</ref>

[[The Mosaic Company]] currently operates the only mines in the county with around 10,000 acres near Fort Green and 16,778 acres near Ona, FL.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bouffard |first=Kevin |date=January 7, 2019 |title=Mosaic to open new Hardee mine |work=Herald-Tribune |url=https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/2019/01/07/mosaic-to-open-new-hardee-phosphate-mine-by-march/6363803007/ |access-date=October 9, 2023}}</ref>

There is controversy over the mining practice and the rezoning and conversion of agricultural land into open pit mines. Land is reclaimed after mining and leaves artificially-created lakes and wetlands.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Beavers |first=Casey |date= |title=An Overview of Phosphate Mining and Reclamation in Florida |url=https://soils.ifas.ufl.edu/media/soilsifasufledu/sws-main-site/pdf/technical-papers/Beavers_Casey_No_Embargo.pdf |access-date=October 9, 2023 |website=University of Florida Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences}}</ref>

Reclamation standards for phosphate lands include contouring to safe slopes, providing for acceptable water quality and quantity, revegetation, and the return of wetlands to pre-mining type, nature, function and acreage.<ref name=":0" />

Opponents of mining say converting agricultural land to phosphate mining is harmful to the environment, increasing background radiation levels,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Roessler |first=C. E. |title=The Effect of Mining and Land Reclamation on the Radiological Characteristics of the Terrestrial Environment of Florida's Phosphate Regions |url=https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/12/618/12618320.pdf |journal=College of Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida}}</ref> harming water quality and rendering some areas poorly suited for agriculture.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Manfuso |first=Jamie |date=September 14, 2002 |title=Hardee changes stance on mining |work=Herald-Tribune |url=https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2002/09/14/hardee-changes-stance-on-mining/28721384007/ |access-date=October 9, 2023}}</ref>

Supporters of mining say it is critical to America's food supply and economy,<ref>{{Cite news |last=White |first=Dale |date=February 11, 2019 |title=Speakers debate merits, dangers of phosphate mining |work=Herald-Tribune |url=https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/local/manatee/2019/02/11/speakers-debate-merits-dangers-of-phosphate-mining/5900719007/ |access-date=October 9, 2023}}</ref> and that reclaimed mine land is better for the environment than agricultural land.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Brown |first=M.T. |date=December 1992 |title=Landscape reclamation at a central Florida phosphate mine |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/092585749290014S |journal=[[Ecological Engineering]] |volume=1 |issue=4|pages=323–354 |doi=10.1016/0925-8574(92)90014-S |bibcode=1992EcEng...1..323B }}</ref>

===Adjacent counties===
* [[Polk County, Florida]] - north
* [[Highlands County, Florida]] - east
* [[DeSoto County, Florida]] - south
* [[Manatee County, Florida]] - west
* [[Hillsborough County, Florida]] - northwest