One of the world’s largest fertilizer manufacturers is settling a massive hazardous waste lawsuit for nearly $2 billion to help clean up pollution and upgrade leaky facilities in Florida and Louisiana.
The Associated Press reports the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the agreement with Minnesota-based The Mosaic Co. this morning. The deal still must be finalized by the court.
The legal arrangement concerns the proper storage and disposal of more than 60 billion pounds of hazardous waste at eight facilities spanning 600 acres in Louisiana and Florida. Mosaic makes a commonly used phosphorus-based fertilizer, the production of which creates solid waste and polluted water. Because sulfuric acid is used in the process, much of the waste contains high levels of acid. Mosaic stores the waste in 500-foot-high piles at the eight locations, and the EPA says the piles are some of the largest manmade waste piles in the U.S.
The company is to pay for the future closure of four of its facilities using a $630 million trust fund it is creating under the settlement. That money will be invested until it reaches $1.8 billion, which will pay for the closures.
In Florida, the facilities covered in the agreement are located in Bartow, Lithia, Mulberry and Riverview. The Louisiana facilities are in St. James and Tangipahoa parishes. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the Tangipahoa Parish plant will be closed.
The company also agrees to pay $170 million on environmental cleanup and other projects, and $3 million total to Louisiana and Florida.
The Associated Press has the full story.
