The Mosaic Company

The Mosaic Company is one of the world's largest producers of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. Its mining and fertilizer manufacturing operations have a documented history of generating and mismanaging hazardous waste, resulting in significant environmental damage. In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice reached a major settlement with Mosaic Fertilizer, LLC to address the improper treatment, storage, and disposal of an estimated 60 billion pounds of hazardous waste at its facilities.

The company's environmental impact includes direct ecological harm from operational failures. A significant wastewater spill from a Mosaic facility in Florida harmed nearly 10 acres of seagrass beds and more than 135 acres of wetland habitats, including almost 80 acres of mangroves. Furthermore, the scale of its phosphate mining requires massive water withdrawals; the company holds a state permit to extract approximately 70 million gallons of water daily from the Floridan aquifer. This pattern of violations continues, as evidenced by a 2024 settlement with the EPA where Mosaic and a related port services company agreed to correct violations and pay a civil penalty.

EPA RCRA consent decree for Mosaic Fertilizer LLC; 60 billion lbs of hazardous phosphogypsum and process wastewater improperly stored at multiple Florida and Louisiana facilities; $1.8B environmental trust fund established plus $8M civil penalty; largest RCRA settlement in EPA history at time of signing; phosphogypsum stacks continue to pose risk as demonstrated by 2021 Piney Point breach and 2024 Hurricane Milton spill