Major Fertilizer Producer Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC to Ensure Proper Handling, Storage & Disposal of 60 Billion Pounds of Hazardous Waste.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2015


Major Fertilizer Producer Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC to Ensure Proper Handling, Storage & Disposal of 60 Billion Pounds of Hazardous Waste.
 
Manufacturer committing close to $2 billion in funding to address environmental impacts from fertilizer production

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced a settlement with Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC that will ensure the proper treatment, storage, and disposal of an estimated 60 billion pounds of hazardous waste at six Mosaic facilities in Florida and two in Louisiana. The settlement resolves a series of alleged violations by Mosaic, one of the world’s largest fertilizer manufacturers, of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which provides universal guidelines for how hazardous waste must be stored, handled and disposed. The 60 billion pounds of hazardous waste addressed in this case is the largest amount ever covered by a federal or state RCRA settlement and will ensure that wastewater at Mosaic’s facilities is properly managed and does not pose a threat to groundwater resources.

At Mosaic’s eight facilities in Florida and Louisiana, hazardous waste from fertilizer production is stored in large piles, tanks, ditches and ponds; the piles can reach 500 feet high and cover more than 600 acres, making them some of the largest manmade waste piles in the United States. The piles can also contain several billion gallons of highly acidic wastewater, which can threaten human health and cause severe environmental damage if it reaches groundwater or local waterways.

Under the settlement, Mosaic Fertilizer will establish a $630 million trust fund, which will be invested until it reaches full funding of $1.8 billion. These funds will cover the future closure of and treatment of hazardous wastewater at four Mosaic facilities—the Bartow, New Wales and Riverview plants in Florida and the Uncle Sam plant in Louisiana—as well as the long-term care of those facilities and three additional facilities that are already undergoing closure. The Mosaic Company, Mosaic Fertilizer’s parent company, will provide financial guarantees for this work, and the settlement also requires Mosaic Fertilizer to submit a $50 million letter of credit.

Mosaic will also spend $170 million on projects to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing and waste management programs at its facilities and $2.2 million on two local environmental projects. Mosaic will also pay a $5 million civil penalty to the United States and $1.55 million to the State of Louisiana and $1.45 million to the State of Florida, who joined EPA and DOJ as plaintiffs in this case.

“This case is a major victory for clean water, public health and communities across Florida and Louisiana,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Mining and mineral processing facilities generate more toxic and hazardous waste than any other industrial sector. Reducing environmental impacts from large fertilizer manufacturers operations is a national priority for EPA, as part of our commitment to pursuing cases that have the biggest impact on protecting public health.”

“This settlement represents our most significant enforcement action in the mining and mineral processing arena, and will have a significant impact on bringing all Mosaic facilities into compliance with the law,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.  “Moreover, through this settlement, we establish critical financial assurance to cover the enormous closure and care costs at all these facilities.  This sets the standard for our continuing enforcement of RCRA in the entire phosphoric acid industry. And, it reflects our emphasis on working jointly with impacted states.”

The alleged violations in this case stem from storage and disposal of waste from the production of phosphoric and sulfuric acids, key components of fertilizers, at Mosaic’s facilities in Bartow, Lithia, Mulberry and Riverview, Florida and St. James and Uncle Sam, Louisiana. Mosaic failed to properly treat, store, and dispose of hazardous waste, and also failed provide adequate financial assurance for closure of its facilities.

As part of EPA’s National Enforcement Initiative for mining and mineral processing, the agency has required phosphate fertilizer production facilities to reduce the storage volumes of hazardous wastewaters, ensure that waste piles and ponds have environmentally-protective barriers installed, and verify the structural stability of waste piles and ponds.

Mosaic has committed to spending approximately $170 million over the next several years to implement an innovative reconfiguration of their current operations and waste management systems. The development of these of industry-leading technologies will optimize resource efficiency and decrease the amount of raw materials required to produce fertilizer. This case spurred Mosaic to develop advanced engineering controls and practices to recover and reduce some types of acid wastes that result from fertilizer production, which will reduce the amount and toxicity of the waste materials stored at Mosaic’s facilities and the severity of potential spills while cutting Mosaic’s costs for treating material at closure, which would otherwise have been categorized as hazardous waste.

Under the settlement, Mosaic will also fund a $1.2 million environmental project in Florida to mitigate and prevent certain potential environmental impacts associated with an orphaned industrial property located in Mulberry, Florida. In Louisiana, Mosaic will spend $1 million to fund studies regarding statewide water quality issues.

Mosaic produces phosphorus-based fertilizer that is commonly applied to corn, wheat and other crops across the country. Sulfuric acid is used to extract phosphorus from mined rock, which produces large quantities of a solid material called phosphogypsum and wastewater that contains high levels of acid. EPA inspections revealed that Mosaic was mixing certain types of highly-corrosive substances from its fertilizer operations, which qualify as hazardous waste, with the phosphogypsum and wastewater from mineral processing, which is a violation of federal and state hazardous waste laws.

A consent decree formalizing the settlement was lodged yesterday in the U.S. District Courts for the Middle District of Florida and the Eastern District of Louisiana and is subject to a 45-day public comment period in Louisiana, a 30 day public comment period in Florida and approval by the federal court.

For a copy of the consent decree, visit http://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees

EPA Finalizes Plan to Address Contaminated Groundwater at Curtis Specialty Papers Superfund Site in Milford Borough and Alexandria Township, N.J.

EPA Finalizes Plan to Address Contaminated Groundwater at Curtis Specialty Papers Superfund Site in Milford Borough and Alexandria Township, N.J.

Contact: Elias Rodriguez, (212) 637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov  

(New York, N.Y. – Oct. 1, 2015) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized a plan to clean up contaminated groundwater at the Curtis Specialty Papers Superfund site in Milford Borough and Alexandria Township, New Jersey. The site includes the former Milford Paper Mill, which operated for 96 years before shutting down in 2003.

This site has a toxic legacy that involves PCBs, volatile organic compounds and other pollutants that persist in the environment. This step in the cleanup process is important and will provide a cleaner environment in these communities,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck.

Past operations contaminated the soil with PCBs, and contaminated groundwater in several areas of the site with volatile organic compounds. PCBs are chemicals that persist in the environment and can affect the immune, reproductive, nervous and endocrine systems and are potentially cancer-causing.

Previous cleanup work has addressed the immediate risks and the sources of contamination at the site including PCB-contaminated soil, buildings and structures, and debris and other risks. The EPA’s final plan addresses the volatile organic compounds in the groundwater, the final part of the site that requires a cleanup under Superfund. The EPA is requiring bioremediation, monitoring and limiting the use of the groundwater to protect people’s health.

The EPA held a public meeting in Milford, N.J. on May 28, 2015 and accepted public comments for 40 days and considered public input before finalizing the plan.

In 2007, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection turned the site over to the EPA and the EPA added the site to its federal Superfund list in 2009.

From 2007 to 2014, EPA conducted and oversaw several elements of this cleanup, including removing hazardous materials, storage tanks, oil-containing electrical equipment, asbestos, construction and demolition debris, concrete, scrap metal and contaminated soil. Over 10,500 cubic yards of soil were removed. In addition, a dozen buildings, garages and other structures were demolished and six wells used by the facility were closed and dismantled. A large outdoor basin that was used to aerate wastewater from the operation was demolished and the area was restored to an open habitat area. The slopes along the Quequacommisacong Creek, which had eroded, were restored and replanted.

The final plan to address groundwater will require bioremediation using non-hazardous additives to break down the volatile organic compounds in the groundwater. The specific types of additives to be used will be determined by the EPA as part of the design of the cleanup. Throughout the cleanup, monitoring, testing and further studies will be conducted to ensure the effectiveness of the remedy. Use of groundwater from the site as drinking water will be legally restricted.

The Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups, rather than passing the costs to taxpayers. The EPA searches for parties legally responsible for the contamination at sites that are placed on the Superfund list and it seeks to hold those parties accountable for the costs of investigations and cleanups. The majority of the cleanup of the Curtis Specialty Papers Superfund that has been conducted to date has been paid for by the International Paper Company and Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products, LP with oversight by the EPA.

To view the web page for Curtis Specialty Papers Superfund site, please visit http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/curtisspecialtypapers/

The record of decision will be available at:  http://semspub.epa.gov/src/document/02/372862  

EPA Finalizes $4 Million Cleanup Plan for Fulton Avenue Superfund Site in Hempstead and North Hempstead, N.Y.

EPA Finalizes $4 Million Cleanup Plan for Fulton Avenue Superfund Site in Hempstead and North Hempstead, N.Y.

Contact: Elias Rodriguez, (212-637-3664), rodriguez.elias@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y. – Oct. 1, 2015) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized its decision to modify an interim cleanup plan originally issued in 2007 to address a portion of the contaminated groundwater at the Fulton Avenue Superfund site in the Towns of North Hempstead and Hempstead, N.Y. 

The groundwater is contaminated with volatile organic compounds, including perchloroethylene, that resulted in part from previous dry cleaning operations conducted by a fabric-cutting mill at 150 Fulton Avenue in Garden City Park, N.Y.  The modified plan requires continuing to operate existing treatment systems for Village of Garden City drinking water supply wells 13 and 14, but eliminates plans for a separate groundwater treatment system for the groundwater. This separate system is not needed, at this time, in part because contamination levels in area groundwater have been declining since EPA issued its 2007 cleanup decision.

The EPA held a public meeting on May 12, 2015, took public comment for 30 days, and considered public input before finalizing the plan.

"The EPA will keep working to protect residents of Long Island from the threats of polluted groundwater," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. “Long Island relies on groundwater as its source of drinking water, so it is essential that groundwater resources be protected from toxic contamination."

Volatile organic compounds can cause cancer and other health damage. The extent and nature of potential health effects depend on many factors, including the contaminant levels and the length of exposure to the pollution.

Public water supply wells impacted by the contamination have treatment systems and are monitored regularly to ensure that the water quality meets federal and state drinking water standards.

The Fulton Avenue site also includes trichloroethylene contamination in groundwater that is being addressed as part of a second phase of work. The EPA is performing an investigation to evaluate the problem and to develop a proposed plan for the second phase.

From approximately 1965 to 1974, the fabric-cutting mill at 150 Fulton Avenue was operated by several businesses, including a division of Genesco Inc. Volatile organic compounds from dry cleaning operations at the mill, primarily perchloroethylene, were disposed of in a well and seeped into the groundwater beneath the 150 Fulton Avenue property, which has been owned by Gordon Atlantic Corporation since 1963.  With the support of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the site was added to the Superfund list in 1998, with New York State taking the lead until 2007, when EPA became the lead agency for the site. 

Currently, the groundwater entering two wells is treated using an air stripper, which forces air through groundwater to remove harmful chemicals. This system will continue to operate until a final remedial approach for the site is implemented. The proposed modification of the cleanup plan includes other elements, such as an evaluation of chemical vapors that may enter buildings near 150 Fulton Avenue, and also relies upon Nassau County law that restricts the installation of private drinking water wells.

The modified cleanup plan will also include sampling and analysis of a monitoring well network and of two wells to ensure protection of public health until a final cleanup for the entire site is implemented. 

The Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups, rather than passing the costs to taxpayers. The EPA searches for parties legally responsible for the contamination at sites that are placed on the Superfund list and it seeks to hold those parties accountable for the costs of investigations and cleanups.  The EPA expects to modify an existing settlement with Genesco, Inc. to undertake the cleanup with EPA oversight.  The estimated cost of the cleanup is approximately $4 million.

To view the Fulton Avenue Superfund web site: http://www.epa.gov/region02/superfund/npl/fulton/

The record of decision will be available at:  http://semspub.epa.gov/src/document/02/372864

 

EPA and DuPont Reach Major Settlement over Fine, After Fatal Chemical Explosion in Tonawanda, N.Y.

EPA and DuPont Reach Major Settlement

After Fatal Chemical Explosion in Tonawanda, N.Y.

Contact: Elias Rodriguez, (212-637-3664), rodriguez.elias@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y. – October 1, 2015) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. (DuPont) has agreed to pay a fine of $724,000 in settlement of Clean Air Act violations relating to a fire and explosion at its chemical plant in Tonawanda, N.Y. 

In the settlement, DuPont will spend $112,000 to purchase vapor and radiation detection equipment for the local fire department and to pay for training. Since the fire and explosion that occurred on November 9, 2010, DuPont has made approximately $6.8 million in chemical safety-related improvements at the facility.

“EPA’s investigation of DuPont highlights the importance of preventing, preparing for and responding quickly to chemical releases and other incidents,” said Judith A. Enck, EPA’s Regional Administrator.

“It is imperative that DuPont and other businesses make protecting human health and the environment their top priority. The chemical explosion that happened at DuPont in Tonawanda must never happen again.”

The General Duty Clause of the Clean Air Act requires companies to design and maintain safe facilities; and take all necessary measures to prevent air releases of regulated materials and extremely hazardous substances. Facilities must also minimize the consequences of accidental releases. The law also recognizes that owners and operators have primary responsibility in the prevention of chemical incidents.

According to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, on November 9, 2010, the ignition of flammable vinyl fluoride that had seeped inside a 10,000 gallon process tank at the DuPont facility resulted in an explosion that killed one worker and badly burned another. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board concluded that hazards had been overlooked by DuPont, which EPA’s investigation confirmed. Vinyl fluoride is used to make plastic products. Exposure to the substance can cause health risks, including potentially cancer.

The EPA identified several areas of the facility’s operations that had been in violation of the Clean Air Act, all of which were addressed by DuPont prior to the settlement. DuPont installed equipment and developed more stringent safety procedures to reduce the risk of a similar explosion; worked with the EPA, corrected its identified deficiencies; and has completed a number of chemical safety-related improvements at the facility, among other improvements.

The DuPont facility has:

•             Upgraded its process to analyze potential vinyl fluoride hazards

•             Taken actions to reduce the risks relating to vinyl fluoride vapors

•             Changed the configuration of the equipment to reduce the chance of dangerous gas build-up

•             Installed new controls and additional protective equipment

•             Improved vinyl fluoride monitoring

•             Improved processes and operating procedures at all of its facilities to avoid a similar vinyl fluoride incident

To view the Chemical Safety Board video and report on the DuPont explosion, visit:

http://www.csb.gov/e-i-dupont-de-nemours-co-fatal-hotwork-explosion/