Aurelius Township, Mich.-There won’t be any medal for the 70-year-old farmer who caught a thief last month draining anhydrous ammonia from a tank and held him at gunpoint until Ingham County sheriff’s officers arrived and took the suspect into custody. But according to the officer, the capture during a blizzard was reward enough, because this particular farm had been victimized for anhydrous on numerous occasions before. Sheriff’s spokesman Steve Sopocy told Green Markets the farmer had been alerted by a motion detector set up to thwart such thievery. “It happened at about 8:20 p.m. when the farmer, whose name can’t be released, went out to check out what was going on. Upon rounding the edge of the building where his anhydrous tank was located, he spotted this suspect, who had a thermos type container and was holding it near the tank’s valve,” Sopocy explained. “The individual obviously was surprised when he was accosted by the farmer and admitted to the farmer that he had been there at least three times attempting the theft of anhydrous. He was held there at gunpoint until police arrived and arrested the subject and transported him to jail.” He said Ingham County has been having a lot of problems with anhydrous being stolen for meth, and several farmers have installed motion detectors along with cameras.

Creighton, Neb.-Creighton city officials earlier this month got a malfunctioning valve at the city treatment plant repaired and are now able to lift a warning issued to residents about high nitrates in the drinking water. The warning had been in effect since Jan. 18. “It took a couple of weeks to get the part ordered and installed after the state issued the warning advising infants under six months of age and also nursing mothers to use bottled water,” Creighton City Administrator Justin Lilly told Green Markets. He said the city made bottled water available through a local food market. The failure occurred at the plant where the water is blended, resulting in two samplings that showed 14 milligrams of nitrate per liter, which exceeds the federal maximum of 10 milligrams.

New Haven, Conn.-A Berlin, Conn., resident who had assembled an arsenal of weapons with tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition, as well as ammonium nitrate and nitro methane for bombs and improvised explosive devices, has been sentenced in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut to 101 months in prison plus three years supervised release. Alan Zaleski, 49, has been in federal custody since being found guilty of 28 counts of illegal possession of firearms in March 2009. “This defendant possessed an arsenal of illegal weapons, the size and scope of which Connecticut law enforcement has rarely, if ever, encountered,” declared U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut David Fein. Zaleski and his weapons cache were uncovered in 2005 after a tree cutter working for a local utility on Zaleski’s property accidentally triggered an explosive, causing permanent hearing loss in one ear.

Los Angeles-The city of Los Angeles, despite being rebuffed in federal court all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, is determined to make another attempt to reverse the ban on trucking biosolids into Kern County for use as fertilizer. The city attorney has filed in superior court in Kern County maintaining that the county’s Measure E, adopted in 2006 banning land application of biosolids in the unincorporated area, violates a number of provisions of federal and state law. According to Assistant City Attorney Ted Jordan, the biosolids case has been back and forth in federal courts, and at one point the city had obtained a permanent injunction against Kern County. “We fought this in federal court and it’s essentially the same issue,” Jordan reported, explaining that “there’s a law in California called the Integrated Waste Management Act that requires governments to recycle to reduce solid wastes going into landfills. “Actually the Supreme Court denied the Los Angeles petition just last year,” Jordan noted. “The reality is the Supreme Court hears very few cases of this type. They accept a very small number no matter what the merits.” He said “Los Angeles is basically filing the same claims made in federal court, maintaining that Kern is violating IWMA and exceeding their police powers, which as the suit asserts affects governments and private parties outside the county and also violates the commerce clause under federal and state law.”

Moscow-Russian fertilizer producer UralChem OJSC reported that production volume at all enterprises of the UralChem Group increased by 10 percent in 2010 compared to 2009, totaling 4.861 million mt. The company said ammonia production increased by 24 percent at nearly 516,000 mt, DAP production by 446 percent at more than 211,000 mt, and MAP by 842 percent at more than 334,000 mt. The company attributed its higher results to favorable market conditions and growing demand from Russian and western consumers. Urea production, at 447,650 mt, was down 15 percent from 2009, while production of ammonium nitrate and its derivatives increased just 1 percent at 2.5 million mt. “All enterprises of UralChem Group are working at full capacity,” said UralChem CEO Dmitry Konyaev. “In 2010 we planned to reach the volume of 4.5 million mt of mineral fertilizers but we were able to outstrip the target. We intend to increase the production volume every year and reach the volume of 5.5 million mt in 2014.”

Washington-The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) on Feb. 11 said it is pleased with the decision by USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to fully deregulate corn amylase for all markets. Amylase corn, which produces a common enzyme that breaks down starch into sugar, was developed by Syngenta Seeds to aid in the production of ethanol. Syngenta submitted a petition in 2007 to deregulate the genetically engineered corn seed, estimating that high-amylase seeds could cut ethanol production costs by 10 percent. APHIS has not found a plant pest risk associated with corn amylase and reported a positive Environmental Assessment, NCGA said. Corn amylase is approved in Japan, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Taiwan, and the Philippines, and was found to be safe for food and feed by the Food and Drug Administration in 2007. “Corn amylase is the first processing output trait to be scrutinized by our regulatory system,” said Bart Schott, NCGA president. “The potential importance of output traits to growers and industry will only increase as other output traits are developed.” Not all were happy with the decision, however. “The Obama administration is giving the green light to dirty and dangerous forms of corn ethanol despite significant health, food security and environmental concerns,” said Kate McMahon, biofuels campaign coordinator for the environmental group Friends of the Earth. “Instead of continuing to risk the health of people and the planet, we should reexamine the existence of the biofuel mandate.”

Richmond, Va.-DuPont Protection Technologies on Feb. 8 announced price increases of 5-10 percent on all product lines depending on product type and geographic location. The increases include key brands DuPont Kevlar®, Nomex®, Tyvek®, and Sontara® and are being implemented immediately or as contracts permit. DuPont said details surrounding the new prices will be communicated locally in each country.

Bismarck-The North Dakota Department of Agriculture has conducted an unusually expansive assessment of pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides in the state’s rivers and streams, analyzing for 180 different chemicals and producing encouraging results. According to Jim Gray, director of the department’s pesticide, feed, and fertilizer division, 33 sites were monitored last year every six weeks from April through October in cooperation with the North Dakota Department of Health and the U.S. Geological Survey. “As a result of all those samples we had only 43 detections, and those were at very low levels. In fact, nine different pesticides were found, and all were at levels below federal standards for ecological impact or for drinking water,” Gray reported. He said the Red River had several detections for three chemicals that are starting to reach levels that merit further observation, but nothing of serious concern. Gray said he wasn’t sure this undertaking is unique to his state, but noted that state and federal funds were available and “we worked with our partners to make sure the best use was made of those funds.” Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring added, “These results also show that current regulations, use restrictions, and our enforcement strategy are effective in preventing pesticide contamination of surface water.”

Burr Ridge, Ill.-Nufarm Americas and Sumitomo Chemical Co.’s affiliate Valent de Mexico (VdM) intend to form a strategic alliance in Mexico to distribute crop protection products. Nufarm will provide selected products from its line of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides to VdM, which will offer those products through its established existing distribution channel. The companies say their offerings are complementary; in Mexico, VdM has focused on specialty crops and branded products, while Nufarm is one of the world’s largest suppliers of herbicides for broad-acre crops, as well as of a wide array of fungicides and insecticides. VdM will have exclusive rights to sell certain Nufarm products to its distributors under private branded labels. Nufarm will continue its model of selling product to industrial customers. The final agreement is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter. Nufarm Americas is a subsidiary of Nufarm Ltd., a manufacturer, supplier, and marketer of crop protection products based in Australia.

Santiago-GCIS Chile SpA, owned by Gowan Comércio Internacional e Serviços Limitada (GCIS), has acquired a majority share in Agro Technology S.A. (AGT) located in Santiago, Chile. GCIS says it will expand its presence in the South American crop protection markets. GCIS said AGT’s support of IPM programs aligns perfectly with GCIS’s goal of bringing a bio-pesticide and chemical approach to Chile and other South American countries for fruit and vegetable crops. The existing management at AGT will continue operating AGT and serving its customers in Chile.