Boise-The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) has announced that it is seeking public comment on Monsanto’s proposal to renew its Tier I air quality operating permit for the company’s P4 Production LLC elemental phosphorus plant two miles north of Soda Springs in Caribou County. The deadline for submitting written comments addressing air quality concerns regarding the proposed permit is Monday, June 22. A public hearing may be held if requested in writing by June 8. According to an IDEQ draft operating permit, P4 Production, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Monsanto, is not in compliance with applicable requirements for its No. 7 furnace hearth replacement and No. 7 furnace transformer replacement because of a failure to obtain a permit to construct prior to construction or modification. The draft permit also states the Monsanto plant does not comply with applicable visible emission and particulate matter requirements regarding its No. 7 and No. 8 carbon monoxide flares. Phosphate ore, silica, and coke are fed into the plant’s three large electric furnaces to produce elemental phosphorus, a chemical used in a variety of products, including the Roundup herbicide, fire retardants, leavening agents, aviation fluids, and carbonated beverages. The Soda Springs plant is the only elemental phosphorus plant still operating in the United States after FMC closed its Pocatello complex in December 2001.
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