Dallas-Agrifos Fertilizer Inc. officials say they are satisfied with the outcome of long-term negotiations with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the operation and closure of the phosphogypsum stacks and wastewater treatment at Agrifos’s Pasadena, Tex., facility, which processes phosphate rock into ammonium phosphate, DAP, and MAP, and also produces super phosphoric acid, primarily for use in the southwest and western states. “We’re satisfied with the results and are looking forward to accomplishing all directives in the order,” Agrifos spokesman Steve Pierce told Green Markets. EPA announced late last month (GM March 31, p. 12) that an administrative order on consent had been issued to Agrifos and ExxonMobil Oil Corp., which as Mobil Corp. constructed and operated the facility from 1960 until 1998, when it was purchased by Agrifos. According to EPA, the order stems from an August 2007 incident in which heavy rainfall on top of excessive amounts of acidic wastewater caused the failure of a portion of the phosphogypsum impoundments and the release of approximately 54 million gallons between Aug. 16 and Sept. 7 that year. Wastewater flowed into a county drainage ditch and then into the Houston Ship Channel, and at least one fish kill was reported in the bayou. The EPA order requires Agrifos and ExxonMobil to promptly take steps to complete side slope closure of the gypsum stacks over the next two years and develop a corrective action plan to address soil and groundwater contamination. Agrifos and ExxonMobil will also build a new wastewater treatment plant to treat wastewater and dispose of acidic wastewater using the deep injection well at the facility. The order also requires Agrifos and ExxonMobil to demonstrate, through modeling, a five-year plan for managing water balance during closure activities at the site.
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