Securing a Mosaic
The art of security shines bright in Central Florida
- By Brenda Shmiel
- Mar 02, 2007
(Reprinted from Solutions magazines, Issue 1, 2006, by permission of the copyright owner, Securitas Security Services USA Inc.)
IF
you drank juice with your breakfast this morning, you probably enjoyed high-quality Florida oranges grown using commercial fertilizer produced by Mosaic Co. Formed through the merger of Cargill Crop Nutrition and IMC Global in 2004, Mosaic improves crop yields and livestock nutrition by mining, manufacturing and distributing fertilizer around the world. A critical ingredient in a leading Mosaic fertilizer is the nutrient phosphorous, found in a relatively small number of locations worldwide.
One such location is Central Florida, where the company mines phosphate rock and then processes it into finished products distributed worldwide. In Florida alone, Mosaic has seven mining facilities, five concentrates plants, two marine terminals and a number of sites undergoing reclamation. Seventy-five percent of America’s phosphate fertilizer and 25 percent of the world’s phosphate fertilizer comes from Mosaic’s operations in Florida and Louisiana.
In total, the company owns 3,600 square miles of land in five Florida counties, all of which must be protected.
To help protect Mosaic’s Central Florida operations, the company uses the services of security provider Securitas. More than 100 Securitas officers provide around-the-clock access control, vehicle patrols, port security, emergency response, wildlife and resource protection and strike planning, among other services for Mosaic. Responsibilities include operating in compliance with federal regulations, delivering samples between plants, employee badging and monitoring weight stations. In addition, to comply with standards required by Florida law, security officers must have a minimum of 40 hours of training, clear a federal background check and be trained as first responders for medical emergencies.
“When you think about everything Securitas does to help secure our sites and the surrounding land, all with professionalism, it’s a very high level of service,” said Jim Anderson, superintendent of security for Mosiac locations in Florida and Louisiana.
“While no one service in itself is unique, the combination of so many different services and requirements in a single contract is unique when compared to other Securitas clients nationwide,” said Securitas Branch Manager Bob Donnell.
Guarding Mines, Plants and Ports
At Mosaic’s mining sites, where phosphate rock is gathered using enormous draglines powered by high-voltage electricity, officers limit access to enhance safety, ensuring only trained personnel enter the area in accord with the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration regulations.
“Because Mosaic’s operations are fully integrated—from mine to plant to distribution warehouse—Securitas’ service must be similarly inclusive,” Donnell said.
Next, as the rock moves to the concentrates plants, officers provide access control, weigh trucks carrying supplies and receive raw materials according to MSHA and OSHA regulation.
“When the finished products—phosphate fertilizer and animal feed—reach Mosaic’s terminals, it is ready for distribution to approximately three dozen countries and the North American market,” said Willie Tims, assistant vice president of safety, health, security and training for Mosaic.
Security provided at port facilities must comply with Coast Guard and Department of Homeland Security regulations, offer escorts on and off ships and increase security when official threat levels go up.
“We’ve got so much pressure to make sure we’re not receiving or transferring some type of hazardous material,” said Hamp Plowden, who manages security for Mosiac’s Florida and Louisiana sites, including the port terminals. “The officers stationed at the ports do such a good job and really take the effort personally.”
Value-Added Activities
A major challenge faced by Mosaic in Florida and Louisiana is managing steadily increasing security responsibilities with just a two-man crew: Anderson and Plowden.
“After 9/11, ports were deemed critical infrastructure sited by the federal government, and we needed to meet additional security requirements at our terminals,” Plowden said. “Now, chemical facilities like our concentrates plants also are considered critical infrastructures, requiring their own documented plans on top of all our regular security activity.”
“Securitas has helped us manage the ever-increasing workload by finding talented individuals on its security force who can perform key functions and specialized activities for us in addition to regular duties,” Anderson said.
Officer Troy Weeks draws upon his law enforcement and computer background to serve as access control manager for Mosaic, making badges and programming proximity chips for 4,000 employees. In the port environment, officer Harley Krusey uses his writing skills and extensive plant knowledge to compose MARSEC-required policies and procedures.
“Bob Donnell and the account managers do a good job of identifying people with potential and giving them the opportunity to shine,” Plowden said. “They find the diamond in the rough who will excel in providing specialized security services.”
More value-added activitiy takes place at plant entrance weight stations, where officers selected for their computer literacy monitor as many as 400 trucks each day, a function that would otherwise be performed by traffic control officers. Similarly, on the miles of roads between sites, mobile officers transport phosphate product samples that would otherwise have to be carried by courier.
An Uncommon Environment
In addition to providing security at static sites, all Mosaic land in Central Florida is patrolled on a 24-hour basis. Roving officers equipped with four-wheel drive vehicles, radios and GPS technology cover 4,900 square miles on mostly dirt roads, where they frequently face alligators, wild hogs, snakes and other wildlife. Large stacks of gypsum, a byproduct of phosphate processing, dot the landscape, along with ponds from past mining sites.
Mosaic’s extensive land attracts everything from recreation seekers to poachers and thieves, requiring guards to stay alert and vigilant. The site’s ponds provide some of the area’s best fishing, for example, and the tall “gyp stacks” look like small mountains any four-wheel drive vehicle might want to climb.
“Until you gent involved with a situation, you don’t know if someone is permitted on the property or if they are armed,” Anderson said. “You could be dealing with anything from a simple sightseer to a felon dumping a stolen car.”
Security officers are trained to first check identification to determine if an individual is permitted on Mosiac land. If not, their license plate information is gathered and local law enforcement is contacted to round up the trespasser—an event that may occur as many as 20 times on a weekend. Most trespassers are fishermen or people who dump trash on Mosaic land to avoid the expense of proper disposal.
One of the most dangerous and costly misuses of Mosaic property occurs when thieves try to steal the insulated copper wire that supports drag line mining.
“They take the power cable, strip off the insulation and then sell the copper to a scrap dealer for pennies on the dollar. So where an evening’s activity may net $2,000 for the thief, we lose $50,000,” Plowden said. “And that’s not the largest potential loss. If a person get injured, they might try to sue us. That’s why even trespassing offenses that may seem minor, such as bird watching or picking fruit, cannot be permitted on an active mining site.”
Mosaic’s vast lands also hold potential risks in an emergency medical situation.
“A security officer’s role as a first responder can be particularly important in remote location of Mosiac’s property,” Donnell said. “Many sites are accessible only by dirt roads on which an ambulance cannot travel. When an employee needs help, a Securitas officer at Mosaic is more likely than others to be called upon to actively provide first aid and CPR in the 15 or 20 minutes it may take for help to arrive.”
Unique Service
A unique service employed by Mosaic is game warden patrol conducted by Charles Lowe, Securitas’ only titled game warden in the country.
“More than 700 Mosaic employees and retirees are free to use Mosaic land as members of the company’s Fin and Feather Fishing Club,” Plowden said. “Lowe patrols more than 100 pits to make sure anyone who is fishing has a state license, uses proper safety floatation, obeys company rules for safe boating and is a member in good standing of the company club.”
“We recently had to limit membership in the club to employees and retirees because others are not trained on potential site hazards and safety policies. That policy change cut the club’s number nearly in half,” Anderson said. “When a family is used to visiting a favorite fishing hole, it can be hard to convince them that their presence there now is trespassing. Charles uses the perfect mix of tact and persistence when dealing with the public. He is another example of the added value Securitas brings to providing highly capable officers.”