New Mexico levies $270,600 fine against Helena

Santa Fe, N.M.-State environmental regulators are assessing a $270,600 penalty against Helena Chemical Co. for 11 air quality violations at the company’s Mesquite fertilizer plant. The New Mexico Environmental Dept. (NMED) said it considered two of the violations major because they involve failing to perform a compliance test that indicates emissions levels and not controlling dust – some believed to be toxic air pollutants – from escaping from the facility. The $270,600 is the largest of three environmental penalties against Helena since 2004, but could have been even larger. Four of the original 15 violations, which involved having open chutes that allowed fertilizer to escape and failing to keep toxic air pollutants and engineering records, were subsequently dropped because Helena was determined not to be liable. Dave Thomas, Helena’s division manager in charge of Mesquite operations, responded, “We are certainly pleased to learn that four of the alleged violations were dropped by NMED. Helena believes that this is a direct result of NMED and Helena’s continued working relationship and NMED’s increased understanding of Helena’s operations. Helena, NMED, local residents in the Mesquite area, and Southern New Mexico agriculture can only gain from increased communication and understanding among all concerned.” Thomas said Helena “will continue to working with NMED” regarding the remaining 11 “alleged” violations. Branch Manager Jeff Elmore added, “We intend to work with NMED and the community of Mesquite to ensure that we are able to continue to serve the agricultural industry in a manner that is compliant and beneficial to all New Mexico residents.” Ed Brister, Helena’s director of regulatory compliance and engineering, stated “The remaining violations are, we believe, primarily record keeping in nature, and Helena has already addressed those concerns. Further, at no point have Helena’s operations posed a threat to human health or the environment. We look forward to NMED’s cooperation in reaching workable solutions to all remaining issues.” However, NMED Deputy Secretary Jon Goldstein wasn’t so understanding in his statement that “Helena Chemical fails to understand the gravity of its past environmental violations and continues to disregard the welfare of residents by its lax behavior. Helena potentially put residents at risk by failing to monitor pollutants from the plant.” NMED issued the notice Feb. 8, which was related to a Nov. 14 enforcement action at the facility. The notice requires Helena, within 30 days, to pay the penalty and submit a certificate of compliance for the violations, the majority of which included failure to control emissions from the fertilizer at the company. NMED issued a NOV and assessed a penalty of $238,000 to the company in November 2004 for failing to obtain a permit to operate the facility. The department also issued a $36,000 penalty to Helena in October 2006 when the company failed to report a chemical fertilizer spill. NMED also began investigating all Helena facilities in March 2007 after a fire broke out at another Helena facility in Humboldt, Tenn., to ensure local operations were safe.