Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Action taken against US fertiliser firm

Edie.net: US environmental authorities have ordered a fertiliser manufacturer to clean up its act after 'many' spills of hazardous materials which could endanger human life. The Mississippi Phosphates Corporation (MPC) in Pascagoula, was issued with an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) order forcing it to clean up its facility last Friday (25 September).

The EPA issued the order under Section 7003 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which states an 'imminent and substantial endangerment' to human health and the environment exists at the facility. MPC manufactures sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid at the site and produces phosphate-based fertilizer.

An EPA spokesman said: "We believe that an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health and the environment exists at the facility due to improper storage, inadequate worker safety equipment and many leaks and spills of solid and liquid hazardous wastes.

"Some of the work required of MPC in the 7003 Order includes immediate treatment and containment of releases of hazardous waste - submittal of plans and timetables for rapid remediation of contaminated media…

Locator map of Jackson County, Mississippi, rendered by Arkyan, Wikimedia Commons, under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2

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