TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Mosaic Fertilizer, a subsidiary of NYSE-listed The Mosaic Company, has reached settlements with federal and state environmental agencies to resolve claims involving the company's management of certain on-site waste materials at its fertiliser manufacturing facilities in Florida and Louisiana.

Pending court approval, the settlement resolved a series of alleged violations by Mosaic, one of the world’s largest fertiliser manufacturers, of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which provided universal guidelines on how hazardous waste had to be stored, handled and disposed.

"We are pleased to be bringing this matter to a close. Mosaic is committed to meaningful environmental stewardship at all of our facilities, and we take our responsibility to be good corporate citizens – now and for the decades ahead – very seriously. The commitments we are making through these settlements further those stewardship efforts,” Mosaic president and CEO Joc O'Rourke stated on Thursday.

Under the settlement, Mosaic Fertilizer would establish a $630-million trust fund, which would be invested until it reached $1.8-billion. These funds would 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 other facilities that were already undergoing closure.

Mosaic Fertilizer’s parent would provide financial guarantees for this work. The settlement also required Mosaic Fertilizer to submit a $50-million letter of credit.

Mosaic would further spend $170-million on projects to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing and waste management programmes at its facilities and $2.2-million on two local environmental projects.  A $5-million civil penalty would also be paid by Mosaic to the US government and $1.55-million to Louisiana and $1.45-million to Florida, which joined the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Justice as plaintiffs in this case.

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

TOXIC WASTE
The settlement was expected to 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 60-billion pounds of waste addressed in this case was the largest amount ever covered by a federal or state RCRA settlement and would ensure that wastewater at Mosaic’s facilities was properly managed and did not pose a threat to groundwater resources.

"In the years since [the] EPA began this enforcement initiative, Mosaic has voluntarily made a number of major improvements to and significant capital investments in our facilities to enhance environmental performance, and the settlements will build upon that good work," O'Rourke advised.

At Mosaic’s eight facilities in Florida and Louisiana, hazardous waste from fertiliser production was stored in large piles, tanks, ditches and ponds. These piles could reach more than 150 m in height and cover almost 250 ha, making them some of the largest manmade waste piles in the US. The piles could also contain several billion litres of highly acidic wastewater, which could threaten human health and cause severe environmental damage if it contaminated groundwater or local waterways.

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

Mosaic produced phosphorus-based fertiliser that was commonly applied to corn, wheat and other crops across the country. Sulphuric acid was used to extract phosphorus from mined rock, which produced large quantities of a solid material called phosphogypsum and wastewater that contained high levels of acid.

The EPA inspections revealed that Mosaic was mixing certain types of highly corrosive substances from its fertiliser operations, which qualified as hazardous waste, with the phosphogypsum and wastewater from mineral processing, which was a violation of federal and state hazardous waste laws.

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

A consent decree formalising the settlement was lodged on Wednesday in the US District Courts for the Middle District of Florida and the Eastern District of Louisiana, and was subject to a 45-day public comment period in Louisiana, a 30-day public comment period in Florida and approval by the federal court.