The Fertilizer Institute on March 19 was granted permission to intervene in a case where several petitioners are contesting new phosphogypsum application rules that were approved by the U.S. EPA last October (GM Jan. 8, p. 29; Oct. 16, 2020). The intervention allows TFI to defend EPA’s decision in case the Biden administration does not.
“We are pleased that the court granted our motion to intervene, and we look forward to working with the EPA as this process moves forward,” said Kathy Mathers, TFI Vice President, Public Affairs.
At the request of TFI, EPA approved the limited use of phosphogypsum for government road projects. Phosphogypsum, normally stored in stacks, is waste from wet acid phosphate production and contains high concentrations of uranium and radon.
TFI estimated that use of the phosphogypsum would be uneconomical beyond a 200-mile radius of existing phosphogypsum stacks. However, the Florida-based plaintiffs argued the state has at least 25 phosphogypsum stacks and that the 200-mile radius would include virtually the entire state. There are estimated to be over 60 phosphogypsum stacks in the U.S. located in 13 different states.
The case is the Center for Biological Diversity et al. v. EPA and Andrew Wheeler, Administrator. It is before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.