Mississippi Phosphates Corp., Clean Water Act Violation, Mississippi 2023

Mississippi Phosphates Corp. Pleads Guilty to Clean Water Act Violation and Agrees to Transfer 320 Acres to Grand Bay National Estuary

Mississippi Phosphates Corp., a Mississippi corporation, pleaded guilty today to a felony information charging the company with a criminal violation of the Clean Water Act, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Sam Hirsch of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis for the Southern District of Mississippi.

As part of the guilty plea, Mississippi Phosphates Corp. admitted discharging more than 38 million gallons of acidic wastewater in August 2013. The discharge contained pollutants in amounts greatly exceeding Mississippi Phosphates Corp.’s permit limits, resulting in the death of more than 47,000 fish and the closing of Bayou Casotte.

Mississippi Phosphates Corp. also admitted that, in February 2014, the company discharged oily wastewater from an open gate on a storm water culvert into Bayou Casotte, creating an oily sheen that extended approximately one mile down the bayou from Mississippi Phosphates Corp.

Mississippi Phosphates Corp. entered its guilty plea before Chief Judge Louis Guirola Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Because Mississippi Phosphates Corp. is in bankruptcy and is obligated to assist in funding the estimated $120 million cleanup of its site, the court accepted the parties’ agreement for Mississippi Phosphates Corp. to transfer 320 acres of property near its Pascagoula plant to become a part of the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, which is managed by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System.

“With this plea, Mississippi Phosphates has accepted responsibility for having discharged millions of gallons of industrial pollutants that killed tens of thousands of fish, damaged marine habitats and polluted recreational waterways,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Hirsch.

Mississippi Phosphates Corp. pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act. The company is required to transfer 320 acres of property to the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The estimated cleanup cost of the site is $120 million. The discharge of acidic wastewater in August 2013 resulted in the death of more than 47,000 fish and the closing of Bayou Casotte. The city and state affected are Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Mississippi Phosphates Corp. is a company that manufactured diammonium phosphate fertilizers from phosphate rock and sulphur. The company generated a variety of pollutants and hazardous wastes during the manufacturing process. MPC was obligated to comply with permits issued by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) under the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as prescribed by the Clean Water Act.

Mississippi Phosphates Corp. will transfer 320 acres of property near its Pascagoula plant to the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. The company is in bankruptcy and is obligated to assist in funding the estimated $120 million cleanup of its site. The discharge of acidic wastewater in August 2013 resulted in the death of more than 47,000 fish and the closing of Bayou Casotte.

Mississippi Phosphates Corp.’s guilty plea was accepted by Chief Judge Louis Guirola Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. The company pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act. The company will transfer 320 acres of property to the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is managed by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Estuarine Research Reserve System. The reserve is a vital marine resource that protects and rehabilitates marine habitats and waterways.

The EPA will continue to work with its law enforcement partners to hold companies fully accountable for their conduct, and to ensure they comply with laws that protect the public and the environment.

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