14
Nov
Health and Environmental Threats from Petrochemical Fertilizers; Weaknesses During Hurricane Milton Spotlighted
(Beyond Pesticides, November 14, 2024) The destructive impact of Hurricane Milton, a climate-change-fueled extreme weather event that smashed into Florida in early October, led to the temporary closure of all phosphate mining facilities, integral to petrochemical fertilizer production, in the state after reported wastewater spillage, according to reporting by Tampa Bay Times. The Mosaic Company, the largest phosphate mining company in Florida, reported at least 17,500 gallons of wastewater from one of their processing plants leaked into Tampa Bay (“The Bayâ€), according to a company press release. It is unclear to local communities if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will permit the company’s request earlier this year to test 1,200 tons of phosphogypsum, an industrial byproduct of phosphate rock mining, as a potential material in roadways. Local advocates find this alarming given a reported tear in a gypsum stack operated by Mosaic in one of its plants in New Wales. The wastewater was used as a storage medium for phosphogypsum, which when dissolved contains cancer-causing radon, according to reporting by Reuters.
Besides phosphate waste leakage, over 30 waterways across Tampa Bay were polluted after back-to-back hurricanes (Tropical Storm Debby in August, Hurricane Helene in September, and Hurricane Milton in October), leading to “an estimated 68 million gallons of spilled pollution has been reported so far across seven counties, a number that is likely a vast undercount and sure to rise as wastewater managers learn more about how facilities fared,†according to a separate Tampa Bay Times analysis.
As extreme weather events occur with higher frequency and severity due to the climate emergency, frontline communities are increasingly concerned about the potential for worsening toxic spills from existing and planned petrochemical infrastructure, particularly in the Southeast and Gulf of Mexico regions, but also nationwide. Advocates prefer a wholesale transition to organic land policies and practices, rather than continuing to invest in infrastructure (e.g., carbon capture and storage/carbon credits, phosphate mines) framed by industry as climate solutions.
Florida Phosphate Mines
Florida is the hub of domestic phosphate production. In 2017, the Land Change Monitoring, Assessment, and Projection (LCAMP) initiative through the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published a historical, geospatial analysis of the legacy of phosphate production in the state going back to the 1880s. (See here for the full report.)
Four of the nation’s nine currently operating plants are located in the Sunshine State, according to a Mineral Commodities Summary for phosphate conducted by USGS and published in January 2024. “More than 95% of the phosphate rock mined in the United States was used to manufacture wet-process phosphoric acid and super phosphoric acid, which were used as intermediate feedstocks in the manufacture of granular and liquid ammonium phosphate fertilizers and animal feed supplements,†according to the report. Phosphate rock is also produced in Idaho, North Carolina, and Utah. While the report is technically correct that “there are no [elemental] substitutes for phosphorus in agriculture,†organic and agroecological farmers point to the availability of phosphorus-containing substances compatible with national organic standards (e.g., liquid fish products and squid byproducts containing phosphoric acid), as well as manure and compost.
Phosphate facilities, both active and retired, pose demonstrable environmental and public health impacts. In 2021, over 200 million gallons of contaminated wastewater was pumped into Tampa Bay from the retired Piney Point phosphate plant in Manatee County. In a previous Daily News, Beyond Pesticides covered the immediate aftermath of this crisis. (See here.) The phosphogypsum stacks at Piney Point storage “pond†contain uranium and its decay products, such as the isotope radium-226 (which has a half-life of 1,600 years and decays into radon); these are highly radioactive elements. The stacks also contain toxic elements, such as lead and arsenic. In the Piney Point incident, the concern—beyond the potential tsunami of wastewater had the holding pond been breached—was that the stacks might then collapse and send radioactive waste in the flood waters. The plant was built in 1966 to process phosphate rock into synthetic fertilizer, and for decades there was a pattern of mismanagement resulting in the release of polluted wastewater into The Bay. (See here for a timeline developed by Tampa radio station WUSF.)
Petrochemical Infrastructure and Permissible Harms
There are extensive analyses and documentation of the existing and projected impacts of petrochemical infrastructure on ecological and public health.
The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) released a report earlier this year, The U.S. Petrochemical Buildout: America’s Next Big Climate Mistake, outlining the greenhouse gas emissions impacts of petrochemical pesticide and fertilizer sectors. According to CIEL analysis, “planned petrochemical projects across the US could add a staggering 153.8 million metric tonnes of COâ‚‚ equivalent (COâ‚‚e) emissions annually. This is equal to the emissions of nearly 40 coal power plants or all US domestic commercial aviation emissions.†The development of these planned projects will exacerbate existing inequalities for frontline communities in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,†as well as Gulf South and Ohio River Valley communities who have faced decades of toxic exposure to the fossil fuel supply chain.
According to the website of American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), the leading petrochemical trade association in the U.S., there are 311 petrochemical facilities in the United States. Additionally, AFPM describes U.S. refineries and petrochemical facilities as “among the most technologically advanced and efficient in the world.â€
Publicly available data paints a different picture. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) releases reports on national pipeline performance measures and tracks various leaks from fossil fuel infrastructure, including crude oil, refined petroleum, and biofuel pipelines. According to most recently published DOT data, there have been approximately:
- 12,494 reported leaks on federal lands (not including the National Park System) between 2010 and 2023;
- 20 serious incidents [defined as “a fatality or injury requiring overnight, in-patient hospitalizationâ€] between 2005 and 2023 for “crude oil/refined petroleum/biofuel†pipelines, with operator failure as the leading cause; and
- 1,189 “accidents impacting people or the environment†between 2010 and 2023, with the four leading causes being corrosion, equipment failure, material failure of pipe/weld, and incorrect operation.
Environmental and public health advocates are not surprised by the expectation of allowable harms borne from toxic substances in the context of U.S. energy production, given the pervasiveness of tolerances EPA sets for the permissible amount of pesticides that can be legally allowed in food, drinking water, and other sources, as set by Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
As previously reported, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) releases annual pesticide residue reports through the Pesticide Data Program (PDP). Each year, USDA finds a vast majority of tested products have some level of residues in food products, yet spins the findings as a positive: “More than 99 percent of the products sampled through PDP had residues below the established EPA tolerances.†According to the latest data released in the 32nd Annual Summary Report, over 72 percent of tested commodities contain residues. The tolerance setting process has been criticized as highly deficient because of a lack of adequate risk assessments for vulnerable subpopulations, such as farmworkers, people with compromised health or preexisting health conditions, and children, as well as a failure to fully assess serious health outcomes such as disruption of the endocrine system (which contributes to numerous serious diseases). For example, in a Consumer Reports review also published earlier this year, seven years of PDP analyses show that 20% of the foods tested pose a “high risk†to the public and 12 specific commodities are so dangerous that children or pregnant people should not eat more than one serving per day. (See Daily News here.)
Call to Action
See the latest Action of the Week, EPA Must Not Register Pesticides Without Sufficient Data Demonstrating No Endocrine Disruption, to demand EPA consider complete data for endocrine disruption and call upon Congress to ensure that EPA follows through in not registering pesticides without sufficient data demonstrating no endocrine disruption.
Talk with Beyond Pesticides about creating a livable future: Attend Beyond Pesticides’ 41st National Forum, Imperatives for a Sustainable Future—Reversing the existential crises of pesticide-induced illness, biodiversity collapse, and the climate emergency. The Forum Session 2 will be held today, November 14 at 1:00pm (EST). Tracey Woodruff, PhD, will be speaking on issues she published earlier this year in the New England Journal of Medicine on the impact of petrochemical pesticides, fertilizers, and plastic linked to severe health consequences, including endocrine disruption. (See Daily News here.) Dr. Woodruff, a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) senior scientist and policy advisor, is director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, and professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences in the School of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco.Â
Dr. Woodruff’s talk will be followed by a roundtable with panelists, including a former senior scientist focusing on ecosystem effects, a breast cancer activist, and two farmworker advocates who will share their experience and insight into both the regulation of hazardous materials (including endocrine disrupting chemicals) and strategies for connecting science (and the power of those adversely affected) to decisions that eliminate hazards—recognizing disproportionate risk to people of color. Tapping the experiences of the panelists, this discussion brings together strategic thinking that supports efforts by individuals and organizations to transition away from petrochemicals from a range of perspectives and a broadening of coalition efforts. The panelists include Les Touart, senior science and policy advisor, Beyond Pesticides—former senior EPA biologist and member of EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Advisory Committee; Janet Nudelman, director of program and policy, Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP); and, Mily Treviño-Sauceda, executive director and co-founder and Amy Tamayo, national policy and advocacy director of Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Inc., the first national grassroots farmworker women’s organization. Jay Feldman, executive director of Beyond Pesticides, will moderate.
Registration is complimentary, with contributions appreciated.Â
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
Source: Tampa Bay Times
