Sugar Land, Texas-CVR Energy Inc. said March 25 that its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Coffeyville Resources LLC and Coffeyville Finance Inc., have priced an offering of $275 million (originally announced at $250 million, GM March 22, p. 12) aggregate principal amount of first lien senior secured notes due 2015, and $225 million (originally announced at $250 million) aggregate principal amount of second lien senior secured notes due 2017. The first lien senior secured notes are being sold at an issue price of 99.511 percent and will bear interest at a rate of 9 percent per year, payable semi-annually. The second lien senior secured notes are being sold at an issue price of 98.811 percent and will bear interest at a rate of 10.875 percent per year, payable semi-annually. CVR intends to use the net proceeds to repay term loan indebtedness outstanding under the first priority credit facility and for general corporate purposes. The sale of the notes is expected to be completed on April 6, 2010.

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.

Aurora, N.C.-PotashCorp on March 22 announced the donation of $250,000 to the East Carolina Council of Boy Scouts of America to fund a new facility at Camp Boddie. The new building will be named the PotashCorp ECO Lodge, and it will replace an existing nature lodge. The camp, on the Pamlico River, will be a full-service environmental education facility. “Environmental stewardship is a core value of our company, so the ECO Lodge is something we are very pleased to support,” said PotashCorp President and CEO Bill Doyle, who presented the check. “We believe it will be a well-used resource within the community and the entire region.”

Warrenville, Ill.-Navistar Inc. announced that it has received certification from EPA for its 2010 MaxxForce DT Advanced exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) mid-range diesel engine, which Navistar boasts fulfills its nickname of “The Legend” and operates without the “inconvenience” of adding diesel exhaust fuel (DEF). According to Navistar Group Vice President Ramin Younessi, international on-highway commercial vehicles and IC school buses and commercial buses will use MaxxForce Advanced EGR emissions technology, providing “the most customer-friendly powertrain in terms of fuel economy, performance, and overall ownership costs and without the worry or inconvenience of finding or filling liquid urea.”

Los Angeles-The U.S. Supreme Court may be the next venue for the legal battle over Los Angeles and Orange County trucking biosolids for land application into Kern County. Kern County banned trucking of biosolids in 2006 after an overwhelming vote by residents of the unincorporated area, and the matter has been in court ever since. Los Angeles and Orange County argue Kern is illegally interfering with interstate commerce and is violating the state requirement to recycle this material. In the meantime, Los Angeles and Orange County have been spreading more than 420,000 tons a year in two locations in Kern County, one of them a Los Angeles-owned farm that is slightly less than 5,000 acres, and the other on privately-owned land. Some 26 “very large trucks” make the trip daily.

Guelph, Ontario-Syngenta Crop Protection Canada Inc. on March 17 announced its intent to work with Innovotech, a Canadian biotechnology product development company, clearing the way for continued research trials in North America on a new bacterial blight research product, oxysilver nitrate. Earlier this year Innovotech and Syngenta entered into an agreement allowing Syngenta to conduct research trials of oxysilver nitrate in a seed treatment application for control of bacterial blight. “We are very pleased to play a part in the development of this new technology,” said Coby Long, North American Seed Care marketing head at Syngenta. “We believe it is important to continually seek out new innovative pest management solutions for producers, both in North America and worldwide.” Innovotech is based in Edmonton, Alberta, and it has products in medical diagnostics and agriculture.

Toronto-Allana Potash Corp. reports that it has completed a private placement of 14,442,500 units of the company at a price of C$0.40 per unit for gross proceeds of approximately $5.8 million. Allana intends to use the proceeds to fund exploration and development efforts on the company’s potash property in Ethiopia and for general working capital purposes. The Allana project already has some involvement from Chinese investors (GM Nov. 16, 2009), and last week there was more speculation that China might jump into the project.