Lawrence, Kan.-City commissioners are ready to finalize the deal to take over ownership of the former Farmland Industries fertilizer plant and convert the property into a business park in order to create more jobs in the community, spokeswoman Megan Gilliland confirmed for Green Markets. Gilliland said commissioners last week unanimously directed staff members to prepare the final documents to transfer ownership of the 467-acre site on the eastern edge of Lawrence. They expect to have final documents for approval by the end of this spring. Under the proposed deal, the city will receive $8.5 million from the Farmland bankruptcy trust in exchange for assuming liability to clean up the property. According to a Lawrence city fact sheet, there are combined trust funds for the Lawrence property amounting to approximately $10.8 million. During the bankruptcy proceeding, the investment group Capitana LLC, which had expressed an interest in acquiring the property, purchased the rights to the residual interest from the trust for all four of the former Farmland Industries sites in Kansas. After the city receives its share, Capitana will receive the rest. The property has been damaged by years of nitrogen fertilizer spills, but commissioners expressed confidence that the trust fund will be enough to fund the 30-year environmental plan for the property. The problems are heavy nitrate contamination in filtration ponds at the northern end, the presence of hexavalent chromium near the center of the plant, and a potential for asbestos issues throughout the plant. Some believe the groundwater could take years to clean up, but it might be handled with long-term institutional controls.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain