(CN) – Every time it rains in Pascagoula, Mississippi, something bad happens to the water in Bayou Casotte.
That’s because right next to the bayou is Mississippi Phosphates, a bankrupt fertilizer manufacturer that closed three years ago and left 7 million gallons of contaminated wastewater waiting to be flushed by rain into the bay on the Pascagoula River.
But there could be help for this environmental degradation. On Dec. 8, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it will step up efforts to clean up Superfund sites around the nation and has identified 21 sites for “immediate and intense” action. The Mississippi Phosphates facility is on that list.
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt said the agency is putting a renewed focus on remediation of Superfund sites around the nation.
The EPA said the list of sites slated for fast action is intended to be “dynamic” and sites will move on and off the list as appropriate. The agency also said there may be additional or fewer Superfund sites based on where Pruitt’s “attention and focus is most needed.”
There is no commitment of additional funding associated with a site’s inclusion on the list, the EPA said. Pruitt said he has charged the Superfund Task Force staff to “immediately and intently” develop plans for each of these sites to ensure they are “thoughtfully addressed with urgency.”
In a statement, he added: “By elevating these sites we are sending a message that EPA is, in fact, restoring its Superfund program to its rightful place at the center of the agency’s mission,” Pruitt said in a statement. “Getting toxic land sites cleaned up and revitalized is of the utmost importance to the communities across the country that are affected by these sites.”
That help can’t come soon enough, as the Mississippi Phosphates site is a time bomb. With 7 million gallons of contaminated water on-site, the facility creates an additional 9 million gallons of contaminated water with every inch of rain that falls on the facility. The EPA says it spends approximately $1 million a month to maintain the facility due to the high volume of wastewater generated.
Since July there have been five emergency releases of wastewater totaling 270 million gallons of contaminated water into Bayou Casotte, and 40 million gallons were released in anticipation of Hurricane Nate, according to Dustin Renaud, communications director for the Gulf Restoration Network.
Renaud said the prioritizing the site’s cleanup is good news, but added, “We demand that there are monies available to ensure a timely cleanup. Delay in cleanup creates continued pollution of the Pascagoula River watershed including Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.”
In 2015, the fertilizer company was found guilty in Mississippi federal court of discharging more than 38 million gallons of acidic wastewater in August 2013, resulting in the death of more than 47,000 fish and the closing of Bayou Casotte. The company closed in December 2014 under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
“The sooner this site is cleaned up, the better,” Renaud said. “There will continue to be water pollution until there are no breaches in the containment system. Air pollution will continue until the gypsum pile is completely removed and remediated.”
The EPA took over wastewater treatment at the former facility this past February, after the company’s environmental trust became insolvent.
