EPA says Agrifos cleanup a major step

Dallas, Tex.-The Environmental Protection Agency is citing the cleanup of 1.7 billion pounds of hazardous waste from Agrifos Fertilizer Inc. in Pasadena, Tex., as one of its major accomplishments during 2008. Agrifos operates a mineral processing facility that extracts phosphorus from ores for use in commercial fertilizer. The facility accumulated excessive amounts of acidic wastewater that, according to EPA officials, reached critical proportions when heavy rainfall washed out part of a retaining wall and released 54 million gallons into a county drainage ditch, Cotton Patch Bayou, and then into the Houston Ship Channel. EPA issued an imminent and substantial endangerment order to Agrifos and ExxonMobil to address long-term wastewater management and prevent future endangerment to human health and the environment.