New York City-The New York Department of Environmental Protection (NYDEP) won’t be shipping any of the sewage sludge produced at city wastewater treatment plants to a facility at Hunts Point for processing into fertilizer pellets, and residents there couldn’t be happier. Ending that contract may not be the final blow to the plant operated by New York Organic Fertilizer Co. (NYOFCO), which is part of Synagro Technologies, but community leaders hoped it would be the beginning of the end to the source of foul odors and years of citizen complaints. The Natural Resources Defense Council has sued the plant on behalf of a community group called Mothers on the Move, along with 10 local residents. Last year, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo also filed a public-nuisance lawsuit against the company. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. praised the NYDEP decision as a cause for rejoicing. “The decision by DEP to no longer process its sludge at the NYOFCO plant in Hunts Point is worthy of celebration as a major step towards building a cleaner and greener Bronx. The health, well-being and quality of life of Hunts Point residents, and in fact all Bronxites, will no longer be compromised by incompetent industrial operations. Hunts Point residents are glad that, after years of complaining about foul, noxious odors, their long-time activism has resulted in the city refusing to renew its contract with NYOFCO, bringing us one step closer to removing NYOFCO and its disgusting emissions from their neighborhood entirely,” Diaz declared. He said without the city contract he hopes NYOFCO will be forced to abandon its operations in Hunts Point. There was no response from Synagro at either its regional office in Connecticut or the home office in Houston. But Mark McCormick, one of the top Synagro officials in the area, told the local press they were still hoping to find a resolution with the city. “We’re going to reach out to the city and see what we can do short of terminating the contract,” he said, noting that the plant employs about 50 people. “At this point, we’re open to discussing anything to help them out, whether it’s volume or price or other ways we can help work with each other.”

Saskatoon-PotashCorp is donating US$300,000 to the Canadian Red Cross for its Chile Earthquake Fund. “Twice in the span of two months we have witnessed just how quickly lives and communities can be devastated,” said Bill Doyle, President and CEO of PotashCorp. “As a global company, we know it is vital to provide aid in times of crisis and to prepare for the rebuilding that follows. Our thoughts and condolences go to our Chilean friends during this difficult time.” PotashCorp has a commercial interest in Chile through its 32 percent ownership of Sociedad Química y Minera S.A. (SQM), based in Santiago. SQM is the world’s leading producer of specialty plant nutrition products, lithium and iodine. Its operations and facilities were unaffected by the earthquake.

Bradenton, Fla.-PepsiCo has called upon Yara International ASA and Toronto-based Outlook Resources to find a greener fertilizer to reduce the carbon footprint of growing oranges for its popular Tropicana product. The world-wide soft drink giant first thought transportation was the culprit, but later concluded that a large part came from natural gas-produced nitrogen. Both fertilizer producers are testing their product in the same Florida orange grove. Yara has a calcium-based fertilizer, but no details are available. Toronto-based Outlook Resources is testing an organic formula that in some cases utilizes orange peels from a nearby process plant. “It’s two very different approaches to a low carbon fertility product,” explained Ash Seha, Outlook Resources vice president of business development. “The feedstock for ours is organic material from a number of different inputs, allowing for sort of a flux going through development including agriculture wastes and what is available locally. It could be manures of different sorts … chicken litter or cow manure, or it could be food wastes, depending on what is available and what is the need for the fertilizer.” Seha said Outlook Resources strives to obtain source materials as close as possible to the location where they will be used, which means a further reduction in the carbon footprint. He said the pilot project started with the growing season in mid-February, and the first results will be available within the next 90 days when “we take a look at the budding of the plant.” Sandro Pippobello, director of premium offerings for Yara North America, said, “We’ve been using our new environmental technology to produce lower-carbon fertilizers with great success. In addition to our fertilizer production technology, we’re excited to bring our expertise in plant nutrition to a project that has the potential to both improve agricultural practices associated with orange production and make a positive contribution to growers’ profitability. With PepsiCo’s support, we have an opportunity to make significant breakthroughs in several critical areas ?Çô the environment, crop quality, and profitability.”

Washington-The Federal Maritime Commission is starting an investigation of tight vessel capacity that ocean importers and exporters say is hindering their ability to compete in global markets, the commission announced Wednesday. The FMC named Commissioner Rebecca Dye to lead the non-judicial fact-finding mission. The announcement came as a House Transportation maritime subcommittee heard testimony from shippers and ocean carriers about the state of the industry, which has seen an increase in rates along with continuing complaints from U.S. exporters – principally in the agriculture sector – that they are unable to get containers to get goods to overseas markets. The FMC said it is conducting the fact-finding in response to President Obama’s national export initiative, with a goal to double exports in five years and create 2 million jobs. An executive order on March 11 directs the use of “every available federal resource” in support of the initiative. The fact-finding order gives Dye authority to call hearings, subpoena records, and order reports. Preliminary recommendations are due June 15, with a final report to be submitted July 31.