A Postville, Iowa, fertilizer distributor has been fined $52,221 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act.
Farmers Union Cooperative stores 457,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia, a regulated toxic substance, and allegedly failed to comply with regulations intended to protect workers and the surrounding community from accidental releases of regulated substances, according to the EPA.
“EPA has found that many regulated facilities are not adequately managing the risks that they pose or ensuring the safety of their facilities in a way that is sufficient to protect surrounding communities,” the EPA said in a statement. “The Clean Air Act’s Risk Management Plan rule regulations require facilities that use regulated toxic and/or flammable substances to develop a Risk Management Plan which identifies the potential effects of a chemical accident, identifies steps a facility is taking to prevent an accident, and spells out emergency response procedures should an accident occur.”
The EPA stated the alleged violations risked workers in the cooperative as well as the surrounding area.
Among the violations allegedly made by Farms Union Cooperative was a failure to update its prevention plan.
The EPA said that prevention plans “provide valuable information to local fire, police, and emergency response personnel to prepare for and respond to chemical emergencies in their community.”
