August 14, 2017 - The EPA is hosting a public meeting to explain the process of getting Mississippi Phosphates on the Superfund National Priorities List.  It is taking public comment until Oct. 2.  The meeting begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Pascagoula Senior Center, 1912 Live Oak Ave. The EPA will explain the process and go over how to submit comments.  The agency also invites the public to speak, but the comments won’t be recorded for the record. So if you plan to go and speak your mind, bring your comments in writing as well.  Local environmental groups are urging people to make the trip.  The Mississippi Phosphates site is mountains of acidic byproduct from a fertilizer plant that operated for 60 years along Bayou Casotte in east Pascagoula. One mound has been sealed. The other has a wastewater pond that is producing 9 million gallons of acidic water per inch of rainfall in the area. The gypsum in the mounds is also moderately radioactive.  The STEPS Coalition is reminding people the meeting is an opportunity “to make direct comments, ask questions, hold the officials accountable, and learn about the NPL process.  “The facility could potentially be sold and resume operations as before under a new company, which would lead to even more pollution. Please come out ... to make your voice heard,” it urged in a Facebook calendar post.  “This boondoggle is costing taxpayers a million dollars a month. It is a looming disaster that results from weak permitting and lack of proper oversight,” said Howard Page, community organizer for STEPS. He blames the state Legislature for not properly funding the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the governor’s office for not supporting MDEQ in its mission to protect public health and the environment.  The EPA is taking public comments online at regulations.gov or via mail. Identify the Mississippi Phosphates site by docket number EPA-HQ-OLEM-2017-0075.  Or mail a comment to: US EPA, EPA Superfund Docket Center, Mail Code 28221T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460.  The EPA proposed Mississippi Phosphates as a superfund site. The process now is to further investigate the need.  The site is more than 1,000 acres at 601 Industrial Road. The former diammonium phosphate fertilizer plant used sulfuric acid during production, creating the acidic byproduct. When the business filed bankruptcy and ceased operation in 2014, it left 700 million gallons of untreated wastewater.  EPA’s Superfund program is responsible for cleaning up some of the nation’s most contaminated land and responding to environmental emergencies, oil spills and natural disasters.

September 15, 2014 - An Environmental Protection Agency inspector, during a tour of Mississippi Phosphates in 2009, walked through a puddle so acidic it ate leather off the inspector’s steel-toed boots.  The inspector’s vivid account is one of dozens from an inspection that year that yielded a biting administrative order from the EPA to the company, using the words “imminent and substantial” danger when referring to the possible impact on human health or the environment.  The federal agency ordered the company to fix uncontrolled leaks and spills of sulfuric acid on its grounds, and stop untreated discharges to the adjacent bayou and uncontrolled spills and leaks of phosphoric acid to unlined ditches. The agency found more issues in 2011, and in 2012, reinforced its orders to clean up. Then last year, the state Department of Environmental Quality shut down two plants at the fertilizer manufacturer because they were creating an acid mist that caused neighboring industry to evacuate workers.  All the while, a neighborhood less than a mile away says it was unaware of the reports. Cherokee Forest has 132 homes along heavily industrialized Bayou Casotte in east Pascagoula, where several industries contribute heavily to air emissions.  Residents have been complaining in recent years about thick dust, strong acrid smells and health problems. They’ve told regulators what’s in the air and what’s on the ground at neighboring industry is coming into their yards, onto their cars, onto their skin and into their lungs.  The company says it has fixed its problems from the 2009 inspection.  “EPA conducted a final compliance inspection in October 2010 and confirmed that MPC had implemented all the corrective action items addressed in the 2009 order,” it said in a statement to the Sun Herald. Over the last five years, MPC has continued to invest in its operation and environmental programs and work with the EPA and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality to ensure future environmental compliance at the facility.”  So what’s the significance of the EPA inspector’s boot?  Howard Page, a community coordinator with the STEPS Coalition in Biloxi, who helped organize the neighborhood into a group, said although Mississippi Phosphates has made improvements, he believes the story of the acid puddle is relevant today.  “It shows how very real the threat is,” Page said. “It’s not the most recent event; things the company has been cited for and had to correct. But it captures the issue — how strong that acid is.  “If it does that to a boot, just imagine what it does when you’re breathing it as a mist. It’s a concrete example of what people are facing, not just odors or a possible concern.”  Mississippi Phosphates said it pledged more than $2.5 million to cleanup what the EPA found in 2009, has made other improvements and more recently has offered air monitors in the neighborhood to detect sulfuric acid.  But Page said he believes the chronic history of problems, “not one or two times, but a long series of incidents” presents a health threat to workers and nearby residents.  He said there’s a need to control the risk to workers and neighbors.  “The process they operate there that involves acid is a potentially dangerous process if it’s not managed and overseen well,” he said.  Page said one issue for the neighborhood has been substantiating their complaints. And though other industries are putting dust and chemicals in the air, remarks of trained EPA inspectors at Mississippi Phosphates in the 2009 report sound familiar to residents:

• “the sampling team tasted a metallic flavor in the air that permeated to the back of the throat. Sampling team members complained of burning, stinging and itchy skin and eyes. The metallic taste remained with EPA personnel for at least two days after leaving the site.”

• “The ongoing inhalation of sulfuric acid mist may pose substantial harm to personnel at and visitors to the facility.”

• “The effects of discharges . extend far beyond the initial discharge zone, reaching to the other side of Bayou Casotte, and far into the commercial turning basin (of the bayou).”

• “Low pH liquids facilitate the mobilization of metals such as arsenic, cadmium and chromium. Metals are readily leached from the soils and or sediment into groundwater upon contact with a solution of pH less than 3.5.” The puddle one inspector stepped in had a pH of less than 2 (the company’s permit allows a range of 6 to 9). 

Today, the residents, complaining of health issues, find it is up to them to chase complaints and prove their case. And Page pointed out local government, the Department of Environmental Quality and the industries are also at the table looking for solutions.  Barbara Weckesser, who leads the neighborhood group, said she had representatives from all four industries — Chevron Pascagoula Refinery, First Chemical and VT Halter Marine and Signal International — in her driveway last week, collecting dust samples and responding to reports of a strong odor Aug. 29.  The neighborhood has put together an informal health survey that shows asthma rates in adults well above the national average. They have made formal comments on industries wanting to expand or to renew their air quality permits.  They’re learning.  Page said they met with the state Health Department and the Department of Environmental Quality.  “Mississippi Phosphates says they think they’ve addressed their issues. The others say the same,” he said. “But the citizens are having to do the work. It’s on them, having to struggle to prove the case. They are persistent, meeting the challenge to scientifically prove their suspicions are correct.”  They chase down reports, try to determine which industry is creating dust or releasing something with a strong odor, Page said, even as they are trying to carry on with their lives, he said.  “They have to get up each morning and go to work.”  www.hattiesburgamerican.com

May 30, 2014 - Fertilizer manufacturer Mississippi Phosphates has put an emergency bypass in place to collect runoff from its sulfuric acid plant that was going into a storm drain, according to a published report Friday.  The Mississippi Press reports it has obtained documents that show the company notified the U.S. Coast Guard National Response Center about the incident on Wednesday.  The plant has been operating under certain restrictions handed down from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality in late October.  State regulators issued cease-and-desist orders in August and again in September for Mississippi Phosphates to shut down their sulfuric acid plants due to reports of an acid mist that was affecting residents in east Pascagoula as well as other industries along Bayou Casotte.  The newspaper reports an email circulated among Jackson County leaders and city of Pascagoula officials notes Mississippi Phosphates "has started their emergency bypass of process water off the gypsum stack. They are planning on a 10-day bypass."  The plant, owned by Madison-based Phosphate Holdings Inc., manufactures sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid to produce diammonium phosphate fertilizer. It employs about 240 people in Pascagoula.  People in the area have formed the group Concerned Citizens of Cherokee to document smells, dust and pollution and raising those concerns with state and local officials and their industrial neighbors.  The group is also working with the Steps Coalition, which is helping them target their efforts on the permitting process and further documentation of the issues they face.

November 26, 2012 - Mississippi Phosphates Corp. has been cited by the government for 40 safety and health violations following the deaths of two workers in separate incidents at the company’s Pascagoula facilities.  Occupational Safety and Health Administration says in a news release Monday that it has proposed penalties of $165,900. The company has 15 days to appeal.  On May 22, a worker died while attempting to start up a steam turbine in sulfuric acid plant and being hit by flying metal debris when the turbine housing ruptured due to apparent over pressurization. In a similar incident on June 1, a worker restarting a tripped steam turbine in sulfuric acid plant also was killed by flying metal debris when the turbine housing ruptured due to over pressurization.  OSHA cited other safety and health violations including exposing workers to “struck-by” hazards by not protecting them against over pressurization and failing to maintain and service equipment in accordance with the company’s maintenance program to prevent over pressurization. The company also was cited for failing to test and inspect pressure relief devices throughout the facility.

February 19, 2010 - Mississippi Phosphate Corp. and the Environmental Protection Agency have agreed on how to fix environmental violations remaining after a 2009 inspection, and some found last year.  Many actions were taken in 2009 to tackle problems found by the federal agency, but it took more than two years to agree on all the terms and permanent solutions, Richard Johnson, Mississippi Phosphate's vice president of operations told The Mississippi Press.  About 240 people work at the plant owned by Phosphate Holdings Inc. of Madison.  It makes sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid for fertilizer.  In 2009, the EPA said that the plant posed a danger to health and the environment because of violations including inadequate safety equipment, improper storage, leaks of sulfuric acid, and leaks of phosphoric acid to unlined ditches.  Company leaders said then that fixing the problems would cost about $2.5 million.  The EPA's final order, outlining progress and required future actions, said many of the original problems have been corrected but inspections last year found "imminent and substantial" danger from corrosive water outside a perimeter dike.  Johnson said the dike is stable, but the water was seeping from a stack closed in 2005. He said the company immediately neutralized the liquid and made a berm of agricultural lime to keep the bayou safe during heavy rains.  Johnson said he plans to permanently fix the problem by installing remediation wells. 

November 10, 2011 - Phosphate Holdings, Inc. today reported a third quarter 2011 profit of $1.5 million, or $0.18 per diluted share of common stock, compared to earnings of $2.5 million, or $0.30 per diluted share of common stock for the same period in 2010.  Total net sales for the third quarter of 2011 were $94.7 million, a 35 percent increase from total net sales of $70.4 million for the third quarter of 2010. The average sales price per short ton of DAP during the third quarter of 2011 was $578, a 27 percent increase from the prior-year period average sales price of $455. During the third quarter, the Company sold 162,761 tons of DAP, with 112,120 tons moving into domestic markets and 50,641 tons moving into export markets. This represents a 7 percent increase over the 152,500 tons sold in the third quarter of 2010. The Company recorded operating income of $2.7 million for the third quarter of 2011, compared to operating income of $3.9 million for the prior-year period. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the third quarter of 2011 were $6.6 million, compared to EBITDA of $7.3 million for the third quarter of 2010. In the third quarter of 2010, EBITDA was favorably impacted by litigation settlements, net of related costs, of $0.8 million.  DAP prices began the quarter at $595 per short ton, NOLA, and $645 per metric ton, FOB, U.S. Gulf. At quarter's end, DAP prices were $586 per short ton, NOLA, and $635 per metric ton, FOB, U.S. Gulf. Sulfur prices in the quarter were posted at $220 per long ton, CFR, Tampa. Ammonia prices began the quarter at $555 per metric ton, CFR, Tampa, and closed the quarter at $650 per metric ton, CFR, Tampa.  Commenting on third quarter results, Robert E. Jones, Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased to report positive third quarter results. Our third quarter EBITDA of $6.6 million represents a 234 percent improvement over our second quarter 2011 EBITDA level of $2.0 million. During the third quarter of 2011, we produced 167,000 tons of DAP, which is the highest DAP production level since our second quarter of 2009. However, sulfuric acid production in one of our two sulfuric acid plants operated throughout the quarter at substantially reduced rates due to a damaged heat exchanger. As a result, approximately 27 percent of our third quarter DAP production was produced with purchased sulfuric acid. DAP produced with purchased sulfuric acid had much lower margins than DAP produced with internally generated sulfuric acid.  'On October 21, 2011, we commenced a major maintenance turnaround during which we addressed all known issues constraining sulfuric acid production. During the course of the turnaround, work was performed on both sulfuric acid plants as well as on the phosphoric acid and DAP plants. The turnaround was completed on November 7, 2011 and, while no assurance can be given, we expect materially improved operating rates. Downtime associated with these maintenance activities will adversely impact fourth quarter operations. We are projecting DAP production of approximately 150,000 to 160,000 tons in the fourth quarter."  Shifting to the near-to-intermediate-term industry outlook, Jones added, "A very late harvest in much of the U.S. has delayed and will shorten the domestic fall application season. As a result, demand has been soft and DAP prices have declined from $615, on August 1, 2011 to a current level of $565 per short ton, FOB, NOLA. Looking beyond the 2011 fall season, market underpinnings appear strong with high grain prices, historically low grain stocks and a promising demand outlook for the 2012 spring season."  As of September 30, 2011, the Company had a cash balance of approximately $4.3 million and borrowings under our revolving credit agreement of $7.5 million. The Company continues to aggressively manage its liquidity and believes that its operating results and available credit facilities should be adequate to meet the Company's financing needs for the foreseeable future.  At the end of 2010, our Board of Directors appointed a special committee of independent directors to initiate a comprehensive review of strategic options. While this review is ongoing, we will not hold an earnings call to discuss our third quarter 2011 financial results and will not otherwise discuss this strategic process. When the strategic process is completed, we intend to resume regular quarterly earnings calls.  The Company is a Delaware corporation and the sole stockholder of Mississippi Phosphates Corporation. Mississippi Phosphates Corporation is a Delaware corporation with its executive headquarters in Madison, Miss. Mississippi Phosphates Corporation owns and operates manufacturing facilities in Pascagoula, Miss., which produce diammonium phosphate, the most common form of phosphate fertilizer used as a source of phosphate on all major row crops.

August 11, 2011 - Phosphate Holdings, Inc., today reported a second quarter 2011 loss of $1.8 million, or $0.21 per diluted share of common stock, compared to a loss of $4.9 million, or $0.58 per diluted share of common stock for the same period in 2010. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the second quarter of 2011 were $2.0 million, compared to negative EBITDA of $4.6 million for the second quarter of 2010.  Total net sales for the second quarter of 2011 were $80.5 million, a 30 percent increase from total net sales of $62.1 million for the second quarter of 2010. The average sales price per short ton of DAP during the second quarter of 2011 was $542.54, a 36 percent increase from the prior-year period average sales price of $400.26. During the second quarter, the Company sold 146,213 tons of DAP, with 74,361 tons moving into export markets and 71,852 tons moving into domestic markets. This compares with 152,434 tons of DAP sold in the second quarter of 2010. The Company had an operating loss of $2.6 million for the second quarter of 2011, compared to an operating loss of $7.1 million for the prior-year period.  Robert E. Jones, Chief Executive Officer, said, "Operating issues were the dominant theme of our second quarter of 2011. We simply failed to achieve the production levels of sulfuric acid and DAP necessary for a positive quarter. For the quarter, DAP and sulfuric acid production was 134,445 and 146,043, respectively. We relied heavily on purchased sulfuric acid to supplement DAP production. However, the cost of DAP produced with purchased sulfuric acid is substantially higher than the cost of DAP manufactured using produced acid. "The primary factors negatively impacting our production included phosphate rock shortages due to logistical issues in Morocco which idled our phosphoric acid and DAP plants for nine days; damaged heat exchangers which limited instantaneous rates to approximately 1,000 to 1,200 tons per day in both sulfuric acid plants; and a scheduled maintenance turnaround of one of our sulfuric acid plants which required 19 days.  "During the May turnaround, we replaced the impaired heat exchanger and re-established instantaneous rates in excess of the affected plants' design capacity of 1,500 tons per day. The damaged heat exchanger in our other sulfuric acid plant will be replaced in a scheduled October 2011 turnaround.  "Phosphate market underpinnings were strong during the second quarter of 2011. Posted DAP prices ranged from $530 to $590 per short ton, NOLA, and $600 to $645 per metric ton, FOB, U.S. Gulf. Sulfur prices in the quarter were posted at $220 per long ton, CFR, Tampa. Ammonia prices averaged $563 per metric ton, CFR, Tampa, during the quarter. "Looking to our third quarter, global phosphate markets should remain strong. The compromised heat exchanger will continue to constrain production from the No. 3 Plant, and we will again seek to augment DAP production with purchased sulfuric acid. We currently project that total DAP production in the third quarter of 2011 will be approximately 155,000 to 165,000 tons, and that 15 to 20 percent of that total will be produced with purchased sulfuric acid."

May 12, 2011 - Phosphate Holdings, Inc. today reported a first quarter 2011 net income of $16,000, compared to net income of $2.6 million for the same period in 2010. The Company achieved operating income of $53,000 for the first quarter of 2011, compared to operating income of $4.2 million for the prior-year period. Earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the first quarter of 2011 were $3.8 million, compared to EBITDA of $7.2 million for the first quarter of 2010.  Net sales for the first quarter of 2011 were $77.6 million, a 29 percent increase over net sales of $60.1 million for the first quarter of 2010. The average sales price per short ton of DAP for the first quarter of 2011 was $539, which represents a 1 percent increase over the fourth quarter of 2010 average sales price per short ton of DAP, which was $534, and a 30 percent increase over the first quarter of 2010, which was $415. During the first quarter of 2011, the Company sold 140,968 short tons of DAP, with 81,606 short tons moving into domestic markets.  Robert E. Jones, Chief Executive Officer, said, “During the first quarter of 2011, our DAP production was impacted by phosphate rock shortages. Severe flooding in Morocco interrupted rock deliveries from the mines to the port causing significant delays in the delivery of phosphate rock to our facility. As a result, we curtailed production during late January and early February to avoid a complete shutdown of our phosphoric acid and DAP granulation plants. As phosphate rock deliveries resumed, we experienced strong DAP granulation results, with 61,885 short tons produced in March 2011. This represents our highest monthly DAP production level in four years. Total DAP production in the first quarter of 2011 was 149,031 short tons.  “Early in our second quarter, we experienced additional delays in phosphate rock deliveries, again due to logistical difficulties in Morocco. These delays will result in a shutdown of our DAP granulation and phosphoric acid plants for approximately eight days in early May 2011. To mitigate the impact of this shutdown, we advanced a planned maintenance turnaround on one of our sulfuric acid plants. Both the planned and unplanned outages will impact our second quarter DAP production volumes, which we currently project to be 140,000 to 150,000 short tons.  “From a market perspective, the average posted DAP price was $550 per short ton (NOLA), in the first quarter of 2011. Sulfur prices in the first quarter were posted at $185 per long ton (CFR, Tampa). Ammonia prices began the first quarter at $475 per metric ton (CFR, Tampa), and closed the first quarter at $555 per metric ton (CFR, Tampa).”

May 3, 2011 - Mississippi Phosphate Corp.'s Pascagoula plant has remedied all of its small violations cited by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2009, leaders said, but the company awaits EPA approval before implementing plans to fix the larger issues.  "We're still working with the EPA, and all of that has gone very well," said Richard Johnson, president of operations. "We have proposals on ways to correct the larger problems that are currently being evaluated by the EPA, and the smaller items are taken care of."   The company, which is owned by Madison-based Phosphate Holdings Inc. and employs about 260, manufactures sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid to produce diammonium phosphate, or DAP, fertilizer.  In summer 2009, the EPA and Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality inspected and took samples around the plant.  According to the order issued following those visits, violations included inadequate safety equipment, improper storage and spills and leaks of solid and liquid wastes.  "Throughout their inspections and investigations, they identified some problems that we didn't know we had," Johnson said.  The more serious violations principally involved the sulfuric acid plant, Johnson said.  "We had some soil samples that came back with a low pH," he said. "We need to remediate that soil."  The less serious environmental issues already taken care of included mitigating surface water contamination and providing chemical-resistant clothing for employees.   The plant, which opened in 1958, has separate plants on site that manufacture sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid and DAP.  "We've dedicated the time and the money and the resources to get those items corrected," Johnson said.  As of Dec. 31, the company has spent $5.4 million toward the environmental remediation effort.  "Now we're kind of in the wait mode until we get approval," Johnson said. "From the time that EPA says our plan is good, it'll take us a year and a half to implement that plan."