J.R. Simplot Company to spend $41.5 million to reduce emissions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice today announced a settlement with the J.R. Simplot Company that resolves alleged Clean Air Act violations related to modifications made at Simplot’s five sulfuric acid plants located near Pocatello, Idaho, Lathrop, California, and Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Simplot will spend an estimated $41.5 million on pollution controls to significantly cut sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions at all five plants and pay an $899,000 civil penalty to resolve the violations. The state of Idaho on behalf of its Department of Environmental Quality is a party to the settlement and will receive $167,000 of the penalty.

“Today’s settlement is good news for Idaho residents and will result in significant reductions of sulfur dioxide emissions from Simplot’s Pocatello plant,” said Dennis McLerran, EPA Regional Administrator in Seattle. “Idahoans will breathe cleaner air thanks to the pollution control improvements Simplot has made and will be making under this settlement.”

Once fully implemented, the settlement will reduce SO2 emissions from Simplot’s five sulfuric acid plants by more than 50 percent for approximately 2,540 tons per year of total reductions. Upgrades at Simplot’s Pocatello plant will reduce SO2 emissions by approximately 825 tons per year. Simplot will also implement a plan to monitor SO2 emissions continuously at all five plants.

EPA and DOJ alleged that Simplot made modifications at its five sulfuric acid plants without applying for or obtaining the necessary Clean Air Act permits and “best available control technology” limits for SO2, and for sulfuric acid mist and fine particles (PM2.5) at its sulfuric acid plant in Pocatello, Idaho.

This settlement is part of EPA’s national enforcement initiative to control harmful emissions from large sources of pollution, which includes acid plants, under the Clean Air Act’s Prevention of Significant Deterioration requirements. This will be EPA’s 13th acid settlement under the initiative and the 9th sulfuric acid settlement. The emission rates secured in this settlement will result in the best-controlled, system-wide emissions achieved in any sulfuric acid plant settlement to-date.

The J.R. Simplot Company issues a response to the settlement today sayingwhile they denied the allegations by EPA the company agreed to meet lower emission limitations at all its plants, rather than proceed with litigation.

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Information provided by the EPA.