SODA SPRINGS, IDAHO—In September, NELC attorneys formally notified P4 Production, LLC, a subsidiary of the chemical conglomerate Bayer, that it has violated the federal Clean Air Act more than 750 times over the past five years by failing to report the types and amounts of illegal pollutants it has released into the southeast Idaho air during hundreds of equipment breakdowns and outages at its phosphorus production plant.
The P4 plant, located along the Oregon Trail in southeast Idaho, processes phosphate ore into elemental phosphorus, a highly toxic substance used as the active ingredient in the notorious organophosphate herbicide Roundup. According to U.S. EPA, the refining process generates numerous harmful air pollutants, including fine particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, lead, hydrogen cyanide, and the radioactive polonium-210.
NELC’s pre-suit notice was served on behalf of Idaho Conservation League and Environment America. Although P4 has filed excess emission reports, these reports neither identified the pollutants involved nor estimated the quantities released. Full and accurate public reporting of illegal emissions is essential to enable public interest groups and regulatory agencies to determine whether public health and the environment are being put at risk. At press time, preliminary settlement talks had begun.
