CEH Sues Fertilizer Giant Eurochem for Failure to Report Billions of Pounds of Chemicals to the EPA
The lawsuit comes on the heels of a recent agreement with Chemium International Corporation, the fourteenth company CEH has worked with to resolve reporting requirements.
Contact: Emily DiFrisco, [email protected]
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – Today the nonprofit watchdog the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) filed a lawsuit against Eurochem, one of the world’s largest fertilizer producers with extensive operations in Russia, after CEH’s investigation uncovered its failure to report billions of pounds of chemical substances imported into the United States to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during 2016-2019. Reports for this timeframe were due to be filed in 2021, and failure to report is a violation of the Chemical Data Reporting rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
Eurochem, headquartered in Switzerland and founded by the Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko, supplies fertilizers to more than 100 countries and has violated TSCA by failing to report imports of at least nine chemical substances in vast quantities, between 2016 and 2019. The chemicals include ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulphate, which cause respiratory irritation if inhaled and can lead to serious health problems with significant exposure. Other chemicals include defluorinated phosphate, monoammonium phosphate, and monodicalcium phosphate.
“Contaminants in fertilizers pose indirect risks to human health through their impact on air, water, and soil. Long-term exposure to and proximity to manufacturing facilities for fertilizers can increase the risk of cancer and severe respiratory issues,” said Shakoora Azimi-Gaylon, Senior Director of Toxic Exposure and Pollution Prevention at CEH. “Nitrate runoff from fields can contaminate local drinking water sources, posing a serious health risk, particularly to children.”
“We are concerned about Eurochem’s extensive violations of the TSCA reporting requirements,” said Bob Sussman, CEH counsel and former EPA official. “It’s critical that the company step up and provide assurance to the public and EPA that it has fully audited its operations, corrected its reporting violations for the 2020 reporting cycle and come into compliance with the 2024 requirements.”
For years, CEH has systematically analyzed the import data for companies and chemicals and worked collaboratively with companies to report that data to the EPA where its research has revealed violations of reporting requirements. CEH has achieved legally binding agreements with fourteen companies to date that failed to disclose their imports of over hundreds of millions of pounds of chemicals.
CEH recently reached a settlement with Chemium International Corporation, a globally integrated trading company based in Houston, Texas. Chemium supplies gasoline components, petrochemicals, and resins. Chemium agreed to conduct an internal audit and submitted reports to the EPA for eight chemicals imported from 2016-2019.
“Chemium’s effort to ensure TSCA compliance in response to CEH’s concerns is a laudable example for other companies that must comply with CDR reporting requirements,” said Kizzy Charles-Guzman, Chief Executive Officer at the Center for Environmental Health. “CEH is proud to fill these major gaps in reporting, acting as a watchdog of our important public health and environmental laws to protect the public from potential exposure to toxic chemicals in their communities.”
The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) is a 29-year-old organization leading the nationwide effort to protect people from toxic chemicals to achieve a cleaner, safer, healthier world.