Weeping Water

Operations

Animal feed ingredients plant
Approximately 125,000 tons of limestone is mined on-site annually at 125 feet and 145 feet below the surface and used as a raw material to make the products.
Annual capacity – 230,000 tons
Products – dicalcium phosphate, monocalcium phosphate and coarse monocalcium phosphate

Performance

Significant Achievements

• Improved product quality by installing new screens to improve granulation.

Community Relations

• According to a community survey, Weeping Water needs to be more visible within the community through donations and PotashCorp-sponsored events. The company received favorable comments from survey participants on reducing dust emissions and environmental stewardship.
• We are active in the Chamber of Commerce, and contributed to renovating the old city auditorium which will be used for a senior center, the city office, training area, the city library and for community activities.
• We sponsor underground mine tours during the annual Limestone Days celebration and present information about our facility at the local Community Center; employees volunteer to assist with the tours.
• We have a booth at the county fair manned by employee volunteers. Information is presented about our facility via videos and brochures.

Community Contributions

• Cash donations to local community organizations in 2008 totaled $32,632. The top recipients were the City of Weeping Water, Weeping Water School, Cass County and Otoe County Fairs, United Way and the Lofte Community Theater.
• In-kind contributions totaling $5,491 went to Murray Fire and Rescue, Cass County Fair, City of Weeping Water, Limestone Days and Syracuse-Dunbar-Avoca School Board.
• Several employees donate time for Little League sports; others donate time for Chamber of Commerce activities – Limestone Days barbecue, the city's Fall Festival and the Coming Home for Christmas event. We donated several tons of rock for the new city bike path.

School Partnerships

• We participate in the Science Fair and other school projects with Weeping Water schools; we are also involved in Support Our Schools with Elmwood-Murdock Schools and sponsor school trips with Connestoga Public Schools.

Awards

• For the 13th year, we received a platinum award with distinction from the National Safety Council of Greater Omaha; PotashCorp was rated in the top 10 in the state of Nebraska.
• Received the Sentinels of Safety Award in the Rocky Mountain Region and state of Nebraska categories for our underground safety record of no lost-time accidents.
• Received the Sentinels of Safety Award in 2008 for no lost-time accidents above ground in 2007.
• Received the Star Award from the Nebraska Safety Council.
• Received the Pinnacle Award from Union Pacific Railroad for chemical transportation safety.

Environmental Initiatives

• To reduce dust and fine particles, we asphalted the mine haul road and county roads, along with roads throughout the plant site.
• Energy consumption and greenhouse gases were reduced by improved throughput per day and by operating the underground limestone mine on 50 percent biodiesel.

Local Procurement

• Made local purchases in 2008 of goods, materials and services totaling $3.4 million, or 82 percent of all expenditures (excluding major expansions, raw materials, energy and transportation).

	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Annual Production (000 tons)
Dicalcium/monocalcium phosphate	134	131	129	121	110
Employment
# of employees	43	34	33	34	35
# of female employees	3	3	3	3	3
Gender ratio (% female/total employees)	7.0	8.8	9.1	8.8	8.6
Average tenure (years)	20	20	19	20	18
Absenteeism rate (% hours absent)	3.8	3.7	3.1	1.1	1.1
Employee training provided (hrs per employee)	22	44	65	66	215
Safety Performance
Lost-time frequency (per 200,000 hrs)	2.3	–	–	–	–
Recordable frequency (per 200,000 hrs)	4.7	3.2	3.0	–	–
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
GHG emissions (000 tons)	35.6	33.3	33.0	31.2	28.7
Criteria/Significant Air Pollutants (tons)
Nitrogen oxides	12	12	12	22	21
Carbon monoxide	4	4	4	3	3
Particulates (dust)	25	19	18	18	16
Water Use (million gallons)
Water withdrawn	25.1	24.4	15.8	17.4	18.0
Environmental Expenditures ($ 000s)
Operating expenditures	48	128.7	41.2	49.0	57.6
Capital expenditures	43	9.9	23.2	–	77.2
Energy
Energy costs ($ million)	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.6	1.7
Energy use (BBtu)	234	215	205	196	181
Procurement
Local purchasing ($ million)	1.0	1.1	2.0	2.3	3.4
Source: PotashCorp