J.R. Simplot Co. has agreed to pay a $363,700 penalty to settle violation claims leveled at the Lathrop plant operations by the federal Environmental  Protection Agency.

Simplot closed its Lathrop plant at the end of August. The closure translated into 150 lost jobs.

The plant  manufactured ammonium phosphate fertilizers that are used in agricultural applications as well as sulfuric acid.

The EPA on Tuesday indicated the agency contended J.R. Simplot violated the law at the Lathrop facility by failing to:

*Immediately report releases of ammonia and sulfuric acid in 2018 to the appropriate parties.

*Accurately document that equipment at the facility complied with good engineering practices and industry safety standards.

*Adequately develop and implement written safety operating procedures.

*Conduct required safety training for staff.

*Perform adequate inspections and tests and correct deficiencies on certain equipment.

*Investigate all incidents that could have resulted in catastrophic releases of harmful substances.

*Review and update the facility’s emergency response plan.

Simplot is an Idaho-based agricultural company that made billions of dollars after a chemist employed by the company figured out the formula for frozen French Fries and became a chief supplier to the McDonald’s Corporation.

The Lathrop fertilizer plant when it was owned in the early 1990s by Occidental Chemical Corporation was tagged as an EPA Superfund site.

The chemical firm is still monitoring the aquifer beneath the plant for a plume of sulfolane.