Mississippi Phosphates Leaking Hazardous Waste Into Soil and Groundwater

Hazardous waste from a Pascagoula chemical plant has leaked into soil and groundwater near the plant. MPB's Patty Davis has more.

The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Mississippi Phosphates in Pascagoula to correct problems it says have resulted in an imminent and substantial danger to human health and the environment. A report from the EPA says during a routine inspection in July, a blue haze was seen over the site where sulfuric acid is produced, and one inspector stepped in a puddle so corrosive, it dissolved part of his boot leather. Joan Redleaf Durbin is an associate regional council for the EPA in Atlanta.

Durbin: What the inspectors witnessed during their inspection and sampling visit were leaks coming from the sulfuric acid plant, puddles of liquid on the ground in and around areas of the sulfuric acid plant. When some of those puddles were tested, they had a PH of less than two, which demonstrated that that was corrosive wastewater.

Durbin says ground water testing in August turned up several contaminants.

Durbin: We found arsenic, cadmium, lead, thallium and selenium as well as chromium above regulatory levels.

The agency report blames the problems on improper storage, inadequate worker safety equipment and several leaks and spills. Mississippi Phosphates manufactures sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid and phosphate-based fertilizer. Company officials have responded to the clean up order and have scheduled meetings with the EPA on clean up actions.