An executive with the Mosaic Company Foundation presented a gift of $40,000 to the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center or CHEC Wednesday.
Environmentalists and Charlotte County Commissioners have criticized the phosphate producer for mining operations they have said pose potential harm to the area’s watershed. CHEC Educator Eileen Tramontana said the grant money is used to educate the community about all sides of the issue and comes with no strings attached.
“They don’t tell us what to educate about and they don’t tell us what to say. They want us say what sometimes that they’re a funding source and that’s it”, Tramontana said. “But they don’t tell us how to tell people about the water shed, how to tell people about the systems. If they were trying to filter what we were educating people about there would be a concern.”
CHEC is a non-profit and is funded by a number of grants. Tramontana said its mission is to educate Charlotte County residents and visitors about the region’s fragile eco-system with the aim of making them good stewards of the land and water.
