ICL Performance Products LP

Background/ History

The ICL Performance Products site is located on 16 acres at 8201 Idaho Ave. in St. Louis. From 1870 to 1930, the Hertz Metal Co. operated a lead smelter at the site. An iron foundry was also located on the site. Since 1876, several other businesses have operated at the site, producing various phosphate products. Monsanto purchased the facility in 1935 and expanded to its current size in the 1950s and 60s. In 1997, Monsanto’s Chemical divisions spun off and became Solutia. In 2000, Astaris LLC merged with Solutia and operated as a joint venture. ICL Performance Products acquired the facility in 2005. 

ICL Performance Products currently produces phosphate products. The facility manufactures inorganic phosphates through the reaction of phosphoric acid and basic materials such as lime sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide. In the past, the plant also manufactured phosphoric acid from elemental phosphorous to use as a raw material. The manufacture of phosphoric acid, which contains arsenic, was shut down at the end of 2007. The phosphoric acid is now shipped into the plant. Monsanto operated two hazardous waste storage units, one of which stored arsenic-contaminated materials, phosphorus, methyl ethyl ketone, and sodium hydrosulfide, under the “interim status” portions of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

Cleanup Summary

The department accepted Monsanto’s closure certification for the two hazardous waste storage units in 1994. Monsanto was not subject to the permitting requirements of the Missouri Hazardous Waste Management Law or federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments for post-closure care because they “clean closed” the interim status hazardous waste areas. 

Monsanto is subject to corrective action because they completed closure of the interim status hazardous waste management units after the effective date of the federal Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments. Several releases of phosphorous and other materials at the site have been recorded since 1980. Initial investigations identified soil and groundwater contamination and several areas that required further investigation. ICL Performance Products is currently a candidate for an administrative order or Letter of Agreement to investigate and possibly remediate the areas identified at the site.