Federal regulators have squeezed a $103,449.50 settlement out of Mosaic Fertilizer and Tampa Port Services, accusing the companies of maintenance and operational failures tied to accidental releases of anhydrous ammonia at the Faustina complex in St. James Parish. The deal follows a year of leaks that exposed contract workers and put yet another spotlight on industrial safety along the Mississippi River corridor.
According to The Advocate, a state incident report says a release on Oct. 27, 2025 at the Faustina plant exposed four contract workers to liquid ammonia vapors. Two of them were given oxygen before being cleared to return to work the same day. Tampa Port Services told regulators that a pressure‑relief valve opened and discharged about 673 pounds of anhydrous ammonia vapor to an emergency flare, and Department of Environmental Quality filings say winds kept the vapors on‑site.
Regulatory history and the 2024 consent order
The latest settlement layers onto a longer enforcement record at Faustina. In January 2024, the EPA finalized a consent agreement requiring Mosaic and Tampa Port to pay $217,085 and carry out supplemental environmental projects that included ammonia monitoring and donations to local emergency services, according to an EPA news release.
EPA administrative filings for that case also outline a monitoring project that envisioned as many as 11 perimeter ammonia detectors to provide earlier warning of leaks, as described in an EPA administrative filing.
Recent incidents and company response
State records show that months before the October incident, on June 4, 2025, roughly 4,436 pounds of anhydrous ammonia were released in about 15 minutes. Mosaic said the October release took about 30 minutes to bring fully under control and that the company has implemented corrective actions while continuing to review its processes to help prevent similar events.
Tampa Port acknowledged that the releases were preventable and pointed to a relief valve with pressure settings that were too low, according to The Advocate. The companies waived their rights to appeal the latest EPA settlement, the outlet reported.
Legal implications
The settlement resolves alleged violations of the Clean Air Act's chemical‑accident prevention provisions and carries civil penalties along with monitoring and reporting obligations spelled out in EPA enforcement documents. Regulators can impose additional stipulated penalties if deadlines for the supplemental projects or required reports are missed, and the consent order demands documentation and certification once the work is completed.
Mosaic's public filings say the company paid the penalty required by the earlier settlement and installed ammonia monitors in April 2024 as part of its compliance efforts, according to a SEC filing.
What to watch
Neighbors, emergency responders and parish officials will be watching closely to see whether the monitoring network and promised fixes actually cut down on incidents and improve transparency at the Faustina complex. For now, the settlement keeps the plant under tighter federal and state oversight while the companies finish the required monitoring, reporting and other follow‑through steps.
