Mosaic, one of the world's largest fertilizer makers, has settled a federal lawsuit to the tune of $2 billion.

The money will go toward improvements in the way the company manages more than 60 billion pounds of hazardous waste at eight facilities in Florida and Louisiana. Three of the facilities are located in the Bay area: New Wales, Bartow, and Riverview.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) , the settlement resolves a series of alleged violations of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, a guideline for how hazardous waste must be stored.

"The complaint does not allege environmental damage," said an EPA spokesperson. "This is aimed at ensuring waste is properly stored, handled, and disposed. Mosaic took wastes that were exempt from regulation and mixed these waste streams and hazardous waste that is subject to regulation. This practice resulted in Mosaic subjecting its stack system to hazardous waste rules."

"An enforcement action is never something that people are happy about. But this is a regulatory settlement in which we've agreed to disagree," said Richard Ghent, a Mosaic spokesman.

Under the settlement, Mosaic has agreed to establish a fund that will eventually reach nearly $2 billion in the coming years. That money will cover the future closure and treatment of hazardous wastewater facilities. The company will also spend $170 million on capital improvements to make its recycling processes more efficient.

"This case is a major victory for clean water, public health and communities across Florida and Louisiana," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

Debra Waters, the Director of Environmental Regulatory Affairs at Mosaic, says the $2 billion does not represent a penalty or fine that Mosaic has incurred.

"It represents the number Mosaic has put aside into a financial assurance mechanism, a trust fund if you will, to grow over time to the full funding required to close our phosphogypsum stack systems and treat the process of the water that we have at the end of the life of these facilities," said Waters.

The settlement requires Mosaic to pay a $5 million civil penalty to the United States and a $1.55 million to the State of Louisiana. The company will pay another $1.45 million to the State of Florida.

"This settlement represents our most significant enforcement action in the mining and mineral processing arena, and will have a significant impact on bringing all Mosaic facilities into compliance with the law," said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department's Environmental and Natural Resources Division.

"I want to ensure people our facilities do not pose a risk to our local communities. We take that very seriously," said Ghent.

The settlement has to be approved by a federal judge.