肥料大廠排毒 美政府裁罰金額史上最高

Three subsidiaries of the world’s largest fertilizer producer, the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, based in Canada, have agreed to reduce toxic air emissions at eight U.S. production plants.

The settlement with the U.S. government resolves claims that these PCS subsidiaries violated the Clean Air Act when they modified facilities in ways that released smelly and toxic sulfur dioxide into surrounding communities.

The settlement requires PCS Nitrogen Fertilizer, AA Sulfuric Inc., and White Springs Agricultural Chemicals Inc. to install, upgrade and operate state-of-the-art pollution reduction measures, as well as install emissions monitors at eight sulfuric acid plants across facilities in Geismar, Louisiana (one plant), White Springs, Florida (four plants), and Aurora, North Carolina (three plants).

The three companies will spend an estimated $50 million on these measures, and will pay a $1.3 million civil penalty.

“This agreement, the largest so far in our ongoing Clean Air Act enforcement efforts against sulfuric-acid producers, will ensure cleaner air for citizens across the Southeast and will send a strong signal to the industry that noncompliance has serious consequences,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Sam Hirsch for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

The EPA expects the actions that the companies have agreed to take will reduce harmful emissions by over 13,090 tons per year, which includes some 12,600 tons a year of sulfur dioxide, 430 tons a year of ammonia and 60 tons a year of nitrogen oxide.

Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said, “This case will bring these companies into compliance and require additional action to cut pollution to benefit communities, especially those most vulnerable to air pollution.”

In the future, the companies can also retire plants to comply with the settlement.

The settlement also includes a “supplemental environmental project,” estimated to cost between $2.5 and $4 million, to protect the community around a PCS Nitrogen nitric acid plant in Geismar, Louisiana, and requires PCS Nitrogen to install and operate equipment to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide and ammonia.

The settlement also resolves alleged violations based on Louisiana law at the Geismar, Louisiana, facility, and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality will receive $350,000 of the $1.3 million penalty.

This project is part of EPA’s commitment to advancing environmental justice by reducing the disproportionate environmental impacts on communities near industrial facilities, in this instance, by reducing fine particulates that can aggravate respiratory disease.

Sulfur dioxide, the predominant pollutant emitted from sulfuric acid plants, is a contributor to acid rain, smog and haze. Sulfur dioxide and another pollutant emitted by these plants, nitrogen oxide, are converted in the air to particulate matter that can cause severe respiratory and cardiovascular impacts and premature death.