Bakersfield, Calif.-The legal battle continues between Kern County and the city of Los Angeles and Orange County over trucking as many as 25 loads of biosolids into the Kern area daily despite the U.S. Supreme Court refusing last month to hear the case. “This is a significant victory for Kern County, but the case is far from over,” said Kern County Counsel Theresa Goldner. Goldner told Green Markets that the Supreme Court has sent the case back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which has already ruled that Kern’s ban on the biosolids doesn’t illegally hamper interstate commerce protections, the same question the high court declined to resolve. What will be the next move by the L.A. area is unclear, since the latest setback is believed to have removed the last federal claim against Kern County and leaves only two state-level legal challenges to the sludge ban’s validity ?Çô a claim that the ban violates state recycling rules, and that Kern County overstepped its police powers by creating a law that polices another government entity. Goldner expects the Ninth Circuit to send the case back to the original trial judge in the case, U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess, who she believes has a couple of options. He can rule that the remaining issues are state issues and that, since he is a federal judge, the case doesn’t belong in his courtroom. If Feess makes that ruling, he would need to dismiss the federal case against Kern County entirely. Then Los Angeles could re-file the other claims in state court, Goldner offered.

Belle, W.Va.-DuPont’s in-house investigation of a death in January at the company’s Belle plant has concluded that several factors combined to cause a hose failure that led to the fatal incident. The DuPont statement issued at the conclusion of the investigation said the victim, Danny Fish, had entered the phosgene building to take a reading when the failure occurred, causing him to be exposed. “Our investigation concluded that several factors combined to cause the hose to fail, including the length of time the hose was in service, physical corrosion concealed by the manufacturer’s label, and pressure buildup in the line.” These findings, including the review of operating procedures, examination of physical evidence, and interviews with employees, have been submitted to EPA and other state and federal agencies. “As an outcome of these investigations we have been putting measures in place to improve our processes and prevent similar incidents in the future,” continued the statement. The report stated that many of these measures are complete, while others are ongoing. DuPont also has made improvements in emergency response systems, including installing a dedicated phone line between the site and Metro 911 and conducting an emergency response drill with county emergency response and planning officials to test capabilities and further strengthen communication protocols. State and federal agencies, including the Chemical Safety Board, OSHA, and EPA, are still in the process of conducting their own investigations.

Melbourne-Legend International Holdings Inc. said June 30 that the Wengfu Feasibility Study for the Legend Phosphate Project in Queensland, Australia, is complete, and that the project is positive and robust against a number of fertilizer market scenarios. Legend will release more details about the study on July 23, 2010. It said the recent study outlined the feasibility of the development of a 600,000 mt/y sulfuric acid plant, a 300,000 mt/y P2O5 phosphoric acid plant, a 600,000 mt/y DAP/MAP plant, and a 15,000 mt/y aluminum fluoride plant, as well as corresponding utilities and auxiliary facilities. The phos acid plant would initially be fed by crushed and screened high-grade phosphate rock ore from the Paradise North Mine, followed by feed from a benefication plant located at Paradise South. A second study is also underway on the feasibility of expanding production to 900,000 mt/y P2O5, a 1.8 million mt/y DAP/MAP plant, and a large-scale benefication plant. This study is expected to be complete by Sept. 30, 2010.

West Perth, W.A.-Minemakers Ltd. said June 30 that benefication test work currently being carried out by Bateman Advanced Technologies Ltd. as part of a phosphate scoping study on the Namibian Phosphate Project has produced encouraging initial results. The company said that heavy liquid separation studies show that the phosphate-rich size fraction can be enriched up to 26 percent P2O5 from whole rock samples with an average grade of 18-21 percent P2O5 using standard gravity separation techniques. In addition, it said preliminary wet screening and attrition tests have shown trends favoring a slight improvement in the P2O5 concentrate grade, along with partial removal of the containment gangue, including iron, magnesium, aluminum, and insoluble matter, into the tailings from the phosphate rich-size fraction. Additional testing continues and the final Bateman report is expected in third quarter 2010.

London-Sunkar Resources PLC said that it has secured a three-year equity line facility (ELF) of up to £10 million (US$15.16 million) with Dutchess Opportunity Cayman Fund Ltd. The ELF has been arranged by First Columbus LLP, Dutchess’s joint venture partner in the UK. The ELF offers the company ongoing access to capital as it enables the company to obtain funding from Dutchess at any time during the next three years by way of subscription for new ordinary shares in the company. Subscriptions will be priced at a 6 percent discount to the market price and will take place at timings and intervals and in sizes determined by the company, subject to the agreed mechanisms specified under the ELF. Sunkar CFO Donald Sinclair said “alongside our existing funds, this facility will allow the Company to continue its rapid development. Importantly, the facility allows the Company flexibility to draw only as needed and therefore protect our shareholders from unnecessary dilution.” Sunkar is pursuing the development of a phosphate project in Kazakhstan.

Phoenix-Knight Transportation, a market leading truckload carrier, announced July 1 its choice of the Air1^® brand of DEF for its nationwide fleet of trucks. “Yara stepped up and delivered the full service DEF solutions demanded by Knight Transportation,” said Dave Jackson, Knight CFO. “The Air1^® team really helped us get started with DEF and answer all the questions we have about this new product. They can also grow with us and help us meet our changing needs as our SCR fleet evolves.” “Our inside knowledge of how to help fleets starting off with DEF will put them on track,” said Chad Dombroski, Yara’s director of Air1^®. “Knight has been a long-time leader in the truckload carrier market and continues to show its commitment to being a market shaper with its move to the efficient, clean emission SCR units.”