Knoxville, Tenn.-One of the first – if not the first – diesel exhaust fluid pumps is in operation at the Pilot Travel Center in Brooks, Ore., to dispense liquid urea for selective catalytic reduction emissions systems. Another pump is ready for use in Charlotte, N.C. A total of 50 will be in place by the end of the year, and 50 more will be installed in the first quarter of 2010, according to Alan Wright, Pilot vice president for supply and distribution. Wright told Green Markets the pump is set up so it can be used by truckers at the same time they’re refueling diesel. “It’s a self-service setup; just swipe your credit card, fill it up, and you’re ready to go,” he explained. Wright said that Pilot purchased the urea product from Yara International of Stockton, Calif. He said the Brooks location has a 1,500 gallon capacity. Wright said that Pilot expects there will be a very small demand for the first year, adding that “we’re doing it as a service to our customers; eventually we believe it will grow.” Pilot, the nation’s largest retail operator of travel centers for the professional driver and traveling motorist, with over 300 retail interstate properties in 41 states, is in the process of merging with Flying J and will be making arrangements for installations at those locations, Wright reported. DEF is for diesel-powered trucks that use urea selective catalytic reduction to meet tough new EPA limits on nitrogen oxide emissions that go into effect on Jan. 1. All new diesels built after that date will have to reduce allowable NOx levels by 90 percent from today’s levels.

Dell Rapids, S.D.-This community’s only farm input business, which started out nearly a half century ago, is on the verge of major expansion. Dell Rapids Co-op Grain has the city council’s blessing to locate a new dry and liquid fertilizer plant on a rezoned piece of property. The new plant will include significantly more tank and bin storage capacity, along with automated load-out equipment. But General Manager Mark Lee doesn’t want to talk about the details. He told Green Markets, “We’re just a small operation and we don’t need any more business.” He did, however, tell the local newspaper that the new plant will hold 4,000 tons, or two times the capacity of the current fertilizer plant. “This allows us faster service to farmers,” Lee was quoted as saying. “We can get to the farmer quicker and we don’t have to wait to fill trucks.” The new 21,000 square foot building replaces one that was built in the 1960s and will be constructed near the West Quarry plant in Dell Rapids. It will also include new technology and will store more fertilizer. The plant is being built on a piece of property the city calls the Mergen’s Addition. The addition was re-platted to include a suitable lot, which was purchased by the co-op. The Dell Rapids planning and zoning commission had to approve the rezoning from general business to general industrial. The rezoning was adopted by the city council, along with a conditional use permit for the fertilizer structures.

St. Louis-Growmark Inc. has procured dry storage space at Lange-Stegmann’s St. Louis warehouse to serve both its southern Illinois markets as well as outbound rail markets.

Louisville-D.D. Williamson, under the consent decree lodged in August with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, has agreed to pay $600,000 in civil penalties, to be divided equally between the United States and the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District. The complaint, filed against D.D. Williamson, a caramel coloring manufacturer, alleges the company failed to comply with the Clean Air Act and its regulations. A 2003 incident resulted in the death of one employee and the release of an ammonia cloud in a nearby residential neighborhood. The complaint alleges the company failed to comply with both the general duty of care imposed on users of extremely hazardous substances and the chemical accident prevention provisions, also known as the risk management program. After the incident the company took steps to improve its Louisville plant by building a new facility to house its manufacturing operations. It is also required to use an outside engineering consultant to complete a full hazard operability study of manufacturing operations, implement the study’s recommendations, and train its managers in process-hazard assessment techniques.

Soda Springs-Monsanto Co. will eliminate only three jobs at its elemental phosphorus plant near Soda Springs and another position in Idaho as the St. Louis-based corporation doubles the number of employees it plans to cut worldwide. The affected Idaho employees have been notified of the reduction. On Sept. 10, Monsanto – the world’s largest seed maker and manufacturer of the Roundup herbicide – announced its intention to deepen the work force reduction it announced in June from 900 jobs, or 4 percent of its employees, to 1,800 jobs, or 8 percent of its total work force of 21,700. About 600 of the 1,800 jobs will be in the U.S., including 300 at corporate headquarters. Monsanto officials said its 2009 earnings would come in at the low end of its previous guidance, due partially to weaker-than-expected results in its herbicide sales. Most employees working in the United States have been notified of the cuts. “We announced a small reduction in force that is part of this 1,800 already. We have not been notified that additional reductions are required at this time,” said Trent Clark, Monsanto’s public and government affairs director in Soda Springs. The three-furnace Soda Springs plant, which processes phosphate from a Caribou County mine, provides chemicals for Roundup production. The company also has seed outlets in Filer, Nampa, and Payette, Idaho. Layoffs have already occurred at three Monsanto sites in Mississippi. After Roundup’s patent expired in 2000, competitors flooded the market with generic products, slamming prices. Monsanto restructured earlier this year as a result, creating a smaller division to concentrate on Roundup sales while other divisions focused on selling patented, more profitable genetically engineered seeds. The job cuts are part of the restructuring, which Monsanto estimates could run between $550 million and $600 million. The company hopes the restructuring will save between $220 million and $250 million.

Boston-Converted Organics Inc. is touting the results of a survey that found this spring and summer that the company’s TurfBlend 6-0-0 organic fertilizer produced the best overall quality turf compared with a variety of conventional products. According to Converted Organics, the study, which began last May 28 at the Midwest Golf House in Lemont, Ill., compared Turf Blend 6-0-0 to urea and sulfur coated urea as standards, as well as NaturStim Liquid and granular treatments of Milorganite, sulfur coated urea, L-Soy 9, and NaturStim Granular in 20-foot square patches replicated four times. Each got the same amount of irrigation and maintenance. “Our study showed that Converted Organics’ Turf Blend, along with the urea control, displayed the most consistent high quality over the seven weeks of evaluation,” reported Dr. Thomas Fermanian, Professor Emeritus of turfgrass management at the University of Illinois, and president of Fermanian Consulting LLC. Fermanian Consulting conducted the study with Archer Daniels Midland Co. “Converted Organics Turf Blend 6-0-0 shows great promise as a long-lasting nitrogen source.” Converted Organics President Edward Gildea added, “This study is significant because it demonstrates that golf courses wishing to use an organic fertilizer can do so without sacrificing turf quality, simply by utilizing our organic liquid fertilizer. These results are especially meaningful for golf courses located in environmentally-sensitive areas.”

Bad Axe, Mich.-The Huron County sheriff’s office believes a disagreement over manure may have led a 45-year-old man to brandish a shotgun in the direction of his neighbors while they were fertilizing their field early on Sept. 12. Two deputies took the man, whose identity has not been released, into custody after using a Taser weapon to subdue him. They said he had been firing his shotgun on his own property and then turned the gun in the direction of his neighbors. The sheriff’s office reported that Casey and Tina Jahn, who live in Stoddard in Huron Township, were spreading lime and manure on their farm at about 9:30 a.m. when the gunfire began. The Jahns told deputies there had been arguments with the neighbor over spreading manure before this incident took place. The Jahns left the field and called 911 while their neighbor continued to fire the gun on his own property. Deputies said the firing continued even as they were talking with the Jahns at their residence. They confronted the suspect at his residence, and when he refused to cooperate they “decided to use the Taser to complete the arrest.” He was taken first to a hospital and then locked up in the Huron County jail on a felonious assault charge. After the required 20 hours, he was released on $10,000 bail. The sheriff’s office declined to release his name until he is arraigned in district court.

Albuquerque, N.M.-According to the New Mexico Environmental Dept., no action will be taken against Helena Chemical Co. for a July 29 spill of 350 gallons of liquid URAN at a local farm in Berino near Mesquite, where Helena operates a fertilizer warehouse. NMED spokeswoman Marissa Stone Bardino didn’t provide any details about the incident, but a Helena truck transporting the fertilizer reportedly hit a bumpy patch on a dirt road, which caused the spill. There were no injuries in the incident. A remediation contractor removed about 23 cubic yards of contaminated soil, replaced the soil with clean fill, and took samples for testing. Bardino told Green Markets the spill was reported to the department in accordance with water quality control commission regulations, and was properly cleaned up by the contractor. “A subsequent written report was submitted according to regulations detailing the event and the response actions,” Bardino reported. “Cleanup actions appear prompt and were reported in accordance with the rules, so there is no compliance action pending.” She did, however, advise the local press that the company took its time reporting the incident. “Helena had 24 hours to report the spill,” she said. “They reported it at 23 hours and 15 minutes.”

Annapolis, Md.-The Virginia Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) says Amherst County will have ample opportunity to voice its opposition to biosolids being spread on farmland adjacent to the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail. The Amherst board of supervisors has protested to DEQ’s director that any dumping, spreading, or discharging of biosolids on lands adjacent to the trail could potentially negatively impact, disrupt, or shut down one-half of all significant recreational trails in Amherst County. Their letter points out that more than $2 million has been invested in the trail, including $1.4 million in federal grants, and also calls the DEQ’s attention to the potential for odors caused by spreading the sludge and possible health risks for those who use the trail. Deputy DEQ Regional Manager David Miles informed Green Markets that the department is in the process of preparing a draft permit for contractor Synagro, and Amherst County will have an opportunity to voice its objections when the permit is put out for public comment. Synagro Central LLC, one of at least two companies in Virginia that contract with municipal sewage treatment facilities along the East Coast, has informed the county that it intends to spread biosolids on 132 acres of farmland adjacent to the Virginia Blue Ridge Railway Trail. The trail begins at Piney River in Nelson County and follows the river for almost two miles to Roses Mill in Amherst County.