The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice have closed their first case under EPA's National Enforcement Initiative for Mining and Mineral Processing. As part of an agreement CF Industries has agreed to spend approximately $12 million to reduce and properly manage hazardous wastes generated at its Plant City, Fla. phosphoric acid and ammoniated fertilizer manufacturing facility. The settlement requires the company to pay a civil penalty of more than $700,000 and provide $163.5 million in financial assurances to guarantee appropriate closure and long-term care of the closed facility.
Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, says wastes from mineral processing and associated fertilizer production can pose a serious risk to our nation's drinking water and the health of families. Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno says the company cannot proceed with business as usual. The agreement requires in addition to future compliance and an appropriate penalty that CFI reduce and change its handling of hazardous wastes throughout its facility.
CF Industries, a manufacturer of phosphate and nitrogen fertilizers, operates a 400-acre phosphogypsum stack and associated ponds for storing mineral processing wastes from its phosphoric acid production operations. Between December 2004 and January 2005 inspectors from EPA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection discovered that CF Industries was treating, storing and disposing of hazardous wastes in its stacks and associated ponds without a permit and failing to meet land disposal restrictions.
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