Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Waste management · United States · 2015

Mosaic settles US hazardous-waste case over phosphogypsum handling

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

The US Justice Department and EPA reached a 2015 hazardous-waste settlement with Mosaic Fertilizer covering about 60 billion lbs of waste at eight sites. The Nature Conservancy lists The Mosaic Company as one of its corporate partners.

What?
Mosaic Fertilizer LLC settled a US hazardous-waste case with the EPA and the Justice Department over phosphogypsum handling. US Department of Justice
Where?
Eight Mosaic sites in the United States; the sources reviewed do not name them. US Department of Justice
When?
Settlement dated 1 October 2015. US Department of Justice
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • The Mosaic Company — Agreed a $5 million civil penalty and to fund a trust of $630 million, growing to about $1.8 billion US Department of Justice
Harmed
None on record
Why?
EPA inspections revealed that Mosaic was mixing certain types of highly-corrosive substances with phosphogypsum. US EPA
How?
A hazardous-waste settlement under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), with a trust fund and a civil penalty. US Department of Justice
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The US Justice Department announced on 1 October 2015 a hazardous-waste settlement with Mosaic Fertilizer LLC covering about 60 billion lbs of waste at eight sites.

EPA said its inspections revealed that Mosaic was mixing certain types of highly-corrosive substances with phosphogypsum.

The EPA and Justice Department said Mosaic would pay a $5 million civil penalty and fund a trust that began at $630 million and was to grow to about $1.8 billion.

The Nature Conservancy lists The Mosaic Company among its 17 corporate partners and says Mosaic gave it a $450,000 grant for in-field practices.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The sources reviewed do not name the eight sites or their locations.
    • Unclear Whether the trust fund reached its target or the penalty was paid in full is not stated in the sources reviewed.
    • None on record The date of Mosaic's $450,000 grant to The Nature Conservancy is not stated; the TNC partner page is undated.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations✓ Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Communities and civil society

    1. Companies investing in nature
      The Nature Conservancy ·

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Institutions

    EPA
    The US Environmental Protection Agency.

    Places and local terms

    Conservancy (Kenya)
    In Kenya, land managed by a community or private owners for wildlife alongside grazing, often with outside partners.

    Bonds and banking

    Guarantee
    A commitment by a third party, often a development bank, to pay if the borrower does not.

    Science and environment

    PFOA (C8) and PFAS
    PFAS are a large family of human-made chemicals that persist in the environment and the body; PFOA, also called C8, is one of them and was used to make Teflon.
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