Late Thursday evening, over objections from neighbors, Hillsborough County commissioners gave final approval to change the comprehensive land use plan to allow thousands of new homes to be built over an old phosphate mine in Dover. But radiation and toxic chemical testing must come first. For months, neighbors next to the old Sydney phosphate mine along Dover Road have been fighting to stop more than a thousand homes from being built on land they say leaks cancer-causing radon and dioxane. Part of the property remains an EPA “super fund” site because of contaminated soil. Some spoke out again at tonight's Hillsborough County comprehensive plan amendment hearing. “We’re getting scared just learning a lot about living next to the mine, let alone putting people on the mine,” said George Niemann, who lives only feet away from the proposed site. But most commissioners pushed back on the opposition, saying recently added testing requirements for radiation and dioxane should allay any fears. “I 100% agree with all of the concerns and the state's comments that have been made,” Commissioner Joshua Wostal (R – at large) said. “If we are truly worried about disturbing the dirt and what that might do to our water, this is the only environmental oversight that is currently being applied to the project.” Those in favor added that while current land use doesn't allow homes, it does allow pretty much anything else, suggesting opponents see it as a chance to control what gets built there. “There's an analogy about making chicken salad,” Commissioner Chris Boles (R – at large) said. “That's what we're doing right now.”