PotashCorp’s “Environmental Events and Fines”
The screenshots below come directly from PotashCorp’s website: The first is from its “2009 Online Sustainability Report” on their performance with regards to the environment: http://www.potashcorp.com/media/POT_2009_OSR_Environment.pdf (page 28)
Note that when PotashCorp reports its history of “Environmental Events and Fines,” the literature states: “Environmental Events include reportable [emphasis added] quantity releases, permit excursions and spills….” What type of events are considered reportable? What about smaller amounts of daily pollution in our water and air that are not deemed to be “reportable” events? Review the post of Florida Dept of State regulations on Sulfur Storage and Handling Facilities to see an example of the strict procedures that must be continuously followed to attempt to minimize (not eliminate) pollution during the daily operation of dry sulfur handling.
Also note that PotashCorp reports a “Value of environmental fines ($)” as a dollar amount. If / when “Environmental events” occur at a Carteret County facility, PotashCorp might measure the cost of such spills as a dollar amount in fines…but we as a community at the Crystal Coast would “value” the effects of such accidents using different criteria.
Below are the “Environmental Events and Fines” for 2010, pulled from PotashCorp’s website: http://www.potashcorp.com/sustainability_reports/2010/environment/performance/environmental_events_and_fines/
PCS Fined in October 2010 Ammonia Leak
Quick Quote from the Associated Press
“PCS also owns phosphate mining operations in Aurora, N.C., where 17 workers were injured in 2010 when 8,000 pounds of ammonia escaped from the facility. The State Labor Department issued Potash Corp. nine citations and fined the company $30,400 after the accident.”
–cited in Bloomberg BusinessWeek 7/20/2011
–cited in Forbes 7/20/2011
More Details
…details on citations issued against PCS Phosphate after 8,000 pounds of ammonia leaked from its Aurora plant.
PCS Fined in October 2010 Ammonia Leak
Posted: 5:37 PM Apr 22, 2010 by WITN News
There is more information about why PCS Phosphate was cited and fined by state regulators after an October ammonia leak.
The State Labor Department fined PCS Phosphate’s parent company for an accident last fall that injured 17 workers. Potash Corporation was given nine serious citations and fined $30,400 by the state. The state says 8,000 pounds of ammonia escaped after the accident in Aurora.
WITN News has obtained the citations which outline several violations the labor department said it found at the plant. They say PCS failed to correct deficiencies in the ammonia offloading arm. The state says threads were worn which resulted in the coupling coming apart and releasing the ammonia.
The company was also cited for not having established inspection criteria for the equipment, not property labeling ammonia lines and the plant’s evacuation voice alert system was “unintelligible in all locations within buildings on the plant site.”
Ten PCS employees and seven contractors were sent to the hospital after an ammonia leak at the Aurora plant in October. At the time, PCS said the leak was stopped and the ammonia was contained on the plant site. The immediate areas around the leak and areas downwind were evacuated.
The state says PCS contested the citations, so a state review commission now has jurisdiction of the case.
Full Story (with reader comments…such as the one below)
“Everybody defends PCS that works there, since well paying jobs are scarce, but nobody pollutes more, just ask anyone that spends time on the water near Aurora. I won’t let me my kids swim in the Pamlico thanks to them and agricultural run off. Phosphorous is in extreme demand, but at what cost to our people and environment? Not to mention the millions of gallons of water a day they pull out the aquifers we ALL use for our water supply.”
Previous Story:
Posted: 9:47 PM Oct 12, 2009
Penobsquis’ Battle Versus PotashCorp Begins
Overview
New Brunswick community action for damages against PotashCorp
“A group of community members in Penobsquis in New Brunswick, where PotashCorp has existing and planned potash mines, has launched an action against the mine for damages relating to lost wells, subsidence, noise, light and dust pollution as well as anxiety. This action is being handled through the New Brunswick Mining Commissioner.”- Carteret County News-Times Editorial 7/17/2011
Article from MiningWatch Canada
Penobsquis’ Battle Versus PotashCorp Begins
(Sussex, NB) On Monday, March 14th, 26 residents of Penobsquis begin a two-week battle to prove Potash Corporation stole their water and ruined their lives.
Shortly after water began flooding the potash mine and PotashCorp and Corridor Resources completed rounds of seismic testing, about 60 homes in the area lost their drinking water supply. For five years, from 2004 to 2009, people in the community were supplied with water while they fought and waited for a new community water system.
Affected members of the community believe that it is ultimately the inflow of 1,300 gallons of water per minute into the Potash mine, and its subsequent removal by pipeline and trucking, that has resulted in the loss of their well water; the subsidence (the sinking of land and buildings) that is now affecting their homes; and the stress and grief they endure every day.
In true David versus Goliath fashion, the citizens will attempt to prove PotashCorp’s responsibility and seek damages for water loss, property subsidence, suffering as a result of dust, noise and light pollution, lost property values, and stress. Potash Corp continues to deny any responsibility, their lawyer challenging the group of citizens to “prove it”, at the recent prehearing in November.
“This is a tragic situation,” says Stephanie Merrill, CCNB’s Freshwater Protection Coordinator. “These residents of Penobsquis are just trying to live their lives and are now forced to pay the burden and the cost of proving a large powerful corporation has taken away their water, ruined their properties and their quality of life. The cards are stacked against them and our government has not required the company to take any responsibility”, says Merrill.
CCNB supports them, and their battle, as do many other community organizations in New Brunswick, the Atlantic Region and across Canada.
Ramsey Hart, Canada Program Coordinator at MiningWatch Canada, based in Ottawa, commends and supports the citizens of Penobsquis in their fight against PotashCorp. “The company, which is making huge profits off of public resources, must be held accountable for the social, economic and ecological impacts of its operation,” says Hart.
The Hearing starts today, Monday March 14th, and will take place the weeks of March 14 and March 28th, beginning 9am daily at the All Seasons Inn, Sussex.
The Concerned Citizens of Penobsquis are supported by:
Belledune Citizens Committee; Campaign for Pesticide Reduction; Conservation Council of New Brunswick; Falls Brook Centre; Friends of Mount Carleton Provincial Park; Grand Lake Watershed Guardians; MiningWatch Canada; PANE – for a new perspective on energy; Quality of Life Initiative; Saint John Chapter, Council of Canadians; Sierra Club Canada – Atlantic Canada Chapter; Students for Sustainability; Sustainable Energy Group (SEG) in Woodstock.
Media Contacts:
Stephanie Merrill, Freshwater Protection Coordinator, CCNB: (506) 458-8747 or (506) 261-8317
Ramsey Hart, Canada Program Coordinator, MiningWatch Canada: (613) 614-9937 or (613) 569-3439
Herman Hawthorne, Spokesperson, Concerned Citizens of Penobsquis: (506) 433-3049
More Info: A busy summer of organizing: Penobsquis residents testify at hearings and fundraise (Concerned Citizens of Penobsquis)
Challenge to PotashCorp’s Aurora water quality permit
“A coalition of conservation organizations are challenging a permit issued by the North Carolina Division of Water Quality to PotashCorp’s Aurora, North Carolina phosphate mining operation, which allows the company to expand its mining operation. The mining expansion will have a significant impact on high quality wetlands and aquatic habitat. The permit presumes the state will write new rules that accommodate the company’s ambitions.” – Carteret County News-Times Editorial 7/17/2011
