Caddo Parish, La.-TFI Vice President of Public Affairs Kathy Mathers nipped in the bud the suggestion this past week that potassium chloride might be responsible for the death of cows in Louisiana. “It is impossible that potassium chloride is the cause,” she told Green Markets. “Potassium chloride is essentially a type of salt, and ruminants need a fair amount. Based on our product testing program…which has received international regulatory approval – we can say with certainty that it has very low toxicity. These folks need to keep digging, they will ultimately find another explanation.” Both Mathers and Green Markets recalled that one fertilizer industry player in the past ate potash to show its safety. State environmental authorities say the investigation is not yet completed into the deaths of nearly two dozen cows in Caddo Parish from possibly ingesting potassium chloride. Jean Kelly, public information officer for the Louisiana Dept. of Environmental Quality, told Green Markets that tests have confirmed elevated levels of the substance in the soil where the cattle collapsed and died. “We have no results that can be released at this point since the incident is still under investigation,” she added. Asked if there was any connection to agriculture, Kelly said it was too early to tell. “We’ll know for sure about these things next week,” she concluded. Potassium chloride is used widely as a fertilizer, but there is considerable natural gas exploration and development in the area, and chlorides, particularly potassium chloride, are also used as completion fluid in drilling operations.
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