"Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc agreed to spend more than $52 million on plant improvements and pay a $1.3 million civil penalty to resolve U.S. charges that it violated the Clean Air Act over the emission of harmful pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, U.S. authorities said.

Thursday's accord with the world's largest fertilizer producer includes a consent decree, and is the largest in the U.S. Department of Justice's effort to address Clean Air Act violations by sulfuric acid producers.

It resolves claims by the Justice Department and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that three Potash units built or modified several sulfuric acid plants in ways that allowed the emission of excess sulfur dioxide into nearby communities."

Jonathan Stempel in New York and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg report for Reuters November 7, 2014. [2]