Chicago, Ill.-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 recently accessed Royster-Clark Inc. (now owned by Agrium Inc.) a penalty of $10,478 for a hazardous chemical release. The Lanark, Ill., facility was cited for failure to promptly report an 800 pound release of anhydrous ammonia to the National Response Center on Oct. 19, 2005. The NRC was notified more than two hours after the company knew of the incident. The chemical was released from a nurse tank during transport and lasted approximately 20 minutes. It was eight times the reportable quantity. An anhydrous ammonia release greater than 100 pounds must be reported immediately.
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Truck rollover spills 25 tons of Agrium urea
Calgary, Alberta-A tractor-truck rig hauling one of the last loads of fertilizer out of Agrium’s idled Nikiski plant in Alaska went off the Sterling Highway early May 23. The truck rolled over into a slough and spilled 25 tons of urea, plus an undetermined amount of diesel, in a wetlands that’s connected to the Kenai River, according to company and state officials. Both sources indicated that the urea dissolved quickly in the water, and preliminary inspection determined there were no fish killed and no diesel residue or odor remaining. Troopers on the scene did detect an oil sheen on the wetland surface and brought in a diesel boom and absorbent pads to soak up the spill and prevent any spread. After a two-hour inspection that was joined by the Kenai Watershed Forum and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Leslie Pearson, program manager in the Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation’s spill prevention and response division, declared the findings encouraging. Pearson reported, “We’ll do a couple more site visits and take some more water samples and keep an eye on things to see if there are any changes.” But everyone on the scene agreed that the short-term environmental effects of the spill appeared to be minimal. Pearson said the inspection on Saturday found less than 200 pounds of fertilizer pellets and that the rest apparently had already dissolved. “We’re actually pretty stunned at how little was left,” she added. The crash scene was pinpointed at mile 55.5 of the Sterling Highway near the Kenai-Russian River ferry parking lot. Photos on the spill response division’s website showed the tractor-truck a crumbled mess. The slough where the truck ended up appeared to hold enough water to dilute the fertilizer. Greg Yont, senior director of logistics with Agrium Wholesale in Calgary, told Green Markets that it hadn’t been determined what happened to cause the driver to lose control of the rig. “We’re relieved that the driver didn’t sustain any serious injuries,” Yont commented. “He was treated for just a scratch on his arm.” He was driving an owner-operator rig for HR Trucking, a subcontractor for Alaska-Freightways, which holds the Agrium hauling contract. According to Yont, “It was one of the last loads coming out of the Nikiski plant, which was closed because we were unable to secure a gas supply.” He estimated that about 500 tons ?Çô or less than 30 truck loads ?Çô remain at the plant.
Foes mount anti-biosolids campaign in N.C.
Burlington, N.C.-Burlington officials say they’ve been safely providing hundreds of thousands of tons of biosolids to fertilize farmland in the area for over 20 years and that environmentalists and townspeople who want the practice stopped are acting more on emotions than fact. The city’s permit from the state division of water quality is up for its five-year renewal, and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and others are campaigning to get approval withheld until tests determine the biosolids are free of harmful substances. The league’s Sue Dayton told the press, “I think there’s a clear message here that this stuff is potentially dangerous and the way sewage sludge is handled in this state is irresponsible.” Steve Shoaf, the city’s director of utilities, responded that the group is making “pretty outlandish claims and statements. They’re acting on emotions and are not willing to listen to the facts.” The state has already issued the draft permit, he added, and the public comment period closed May 30. Shoaf agreed that the bottom line is that Dayton and her supporters object to human waste being used as fertilizer. He said the 4,000 to 5,000 tons applied annually by Synagro is used on pasture land and none of it goes to food crops or tobacco. All the regulations handed down by the state and EPA are followed to make sure that the sludge is carefully treated and monitored before being land-applied as biosolids. EPA has long held that nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from treatment of domestic sewage can be recycled and applied as fertilizer when treated and processed in accordance with regulatory requirements.
IECA argues for more gas production
Washington-The Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) says a new report out by Wood Mackenzie raises concerns about natural gas supplies, prompted by the Climate Security Act of 2007. “At a time when more natural gas is needed to meet growing demand, including the global warming challenge, any supply reduction could result in an alarming increase in the price of natural gas,” said Paul Cicio, IECA president. “U.S. natural gas production has been essentially flat since 2000, while demand is up 9.8 percent and prices rose 189 percent in that same time period, according to Energy Information Administration and NYMEX data.” The report found that as much as 32 percent of expected natural gas supply in year 2012 – rising to more than 45 percent in 2017 – could be put at risk if natural gas exploration companies are forced to bear the emission allowance costs. “The alternative is to increase our reliance on imports of LNG, which is currently unreliable in supply, will increase our dependency upon OPEC type countries and negatively impact our trade deficit,” said Cicio. “Increasing domestic production is essential.” IECA says manufacturing competitiveness for basic industry is directly linked to the relative price of natural gas in the U.S. versus other countries. It says the significant increase in the price of natural gas since 2000 has been a significant contributor to the loss of 3.3 million jobs, or 19.2 percent of all manufacturing jobs.
ICL 1Q net income up 281 percent
Tel Aviv-Israel Chemicals Ltd. reported a 281 percent increase in net income available to shareholders during the first quarter ending March 31, 2008. Net income was $346.7 million on sales of $1.53 billion, up from the year-ago $90.6 million and $883 million. Primary drivers for the increase were the sharp increase in fertilizer prices; strong demand for potash and phosphate rock, acids, and fertilizers; higher sales and production volumes for potash and phosphate rock; and the acquisition of the Supresta and Henkel business units. ICL Fertilizers, one of three ICL segments, led the way with operating income of $407.4 million on sales of $952.9 million, versus the year-ago $71.4 million and $451.8 million. First-quarter potash operating profits were $280.5 million on sales of $581.4 million, versus the year-ago $62.2 million and $275.8 million. Total potash sales during the quarter were 1.46 million mt, up from the year-ago 1.22 million mt. Fertilizer/Phosphate operating profits were $132.4 million on sales of $391.6 million, versus the year-ago $9.0 million and $184.2 million. Total phosphate rock production was 746,000 mt, up from 728,000 mt. Sales were 190,000 mt, which are to external customers, up from 96,000 mt. Fertilizer sales to external customers were 471,000 mt, down from 505,000 mt. ICL’s board declared a dividend totaling $173 million will be paid to shareholders on June 25, 2008. On April 30, 2008, ICL paid a dividend totaling $115 million.
Great Western Minerals evaluates phosphate assets
Saskatoon-Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. (GWMG), spurred on by sharp increases in phosphate prices, says it will further evaluate the economic potential of phosphate as a byproduct at its Hoidas Lake Rare Earth Elements (REE) property located 50 km northeast of Uranium City in northern Saskatchewan. The company says that, based on data compiled for the 43-101 Resource Estimate prepared in 2007, the phosphate values range from a minimum grade of 0.05 percent to a maximum grade of 40.9 percent, with a mean or average value of 17.7 percent. The phosphate content will be further evaluated from the results of the recent winter drill program and in the proposed summer drilling program. “Our focus remains on the rare earth sector, but if we have an attractive by-product potential in our deposit, we are going to exploit that to increase the potential revenue and profitability,” said Jim Engdahl, GWMG president and CEO. “In addition, the results from our winter drilling program will also give us a better indication of the potential phosphate resource and further refine our economic strategy moving forward.” He added, “We remain encouraged by the fact that we still have only drilled 1000 metres along the 10,000-metre section of known showings, and to a depth of only 300 metres. As we drill deeper, we continue to intersect new zones at depth and parallel to the original JAK structure. With the JAK Zone open along strike and to depth, this still leaves tremendous potential for the rest of the property, not only for REE, but for the phosphate as well. We look forward to our planned summer drill program further increasing this potential.” GWMG is a Saskatoon-based company exploring for, and developing, strategic metal resources in North America. GWMG is a public company since 1983 and trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol GWG; its U.S. symbol is GWMGF. GWMG’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Great Western Technologies Inc., located in Troy, Mich., produces a variety of specialty alloys for use in the battery, magnet, and aerospace industries.
China BlueChemical partners in phosphate jv
Hong Kong-China BlueChemical Ltd. reports that it has entered into an agreement with Yichang Geological Exploration League of Hubei Province and Yichang Honghe Mineral Development Co. Ltd. to establish China BlueChem Yichang Mining Ltd., a joint venture company for phosphate mining and processing in Yichang City, Hubei Province of China. The jv includes exploring phosphate mine, mining, mineral processing, and sales of phosphate ore by building a project with an annual phosphate mining capacity of 1,500,000 mt and a middle-low grade mineral processing annual capacity of 1,000,000 mt, respectively. The total investment amount for the jv is RMB418,000,000 (with a registered capital of RMB50,000,000), which shall be contributed as 51, 34, and 15 percent, respectively, in cash. After establishment, RMB329,120,000 will be used to purchase the prospecting concession of the phosphate mine from Yichang Geological League. The total reserves volume of the phosphate mine is 118.3 million mt, including economically recoverable reserve of 92.8 million mt and prospect reserves volume of 25.5 million mt.
Air Products buys sulfur recovery company
Lehigh Valley, Penn.-Air Products reports that it has acquired Goar, Allison & Associates (GAA), Inc., a process engineering company and leader in the development and promotion of improved sulfur recovery technologies for the energy industry. Terms of the deal for the company, based in Tyler, Texas, are not being disclosed. “The GAA business is complementary to Air Products’ significant business relationships with the refining and gas processing industries. It also benefits Air Products’ interest in developing gasification project opportunities. We look forward to continuing to serve GAA’s current customer base and see business growth opportunities,” said Air Products’ Doug Lubbers, who will now serve as general manager of GAA. The two companies have collaborated on refinery and related industrial projects for over 20 years by virtue of sharing a patented invention for sulfur processing technology. The technology is marketed under the trademark COPE?äó, and enables debottlenecking of the Claus sulfur recovery process by substituting oxygen for air. GAA also owns the D’GAASS?äó liquid sulfur degassing technology, which virtually eliminates emissions of hydrogen sulphide from liquid sulfur produced by the Claus process. Air Products and GAA moved forward with the deal cooperatively when some of the principal shareholders of GAA indicated retirement intentions and approached Air Products about the purchase. These individuals have agreed to remain with GAA through the end of 2009 so as to ensure business continuity. Air Products serves customers in industrial, energy, technology, and healthcare markets worldwide with a portfolio of atmospheric gases, process and specialty gases, performance materials, and equipment and services.
Fertilizer research funds released in Illinois
Bloomington, Ill.-Fertilizer interests are pleased that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has decided to restore nearly $500,000 to the state’s fertilizer research and education program, along with other agriculture-related funding being withheld to alleviate a budget shortfall. Blagojevich’s action upset agriculture, particularly because the research funds are provided out of the pockets of the state’s farmers. “We are pleased that the funding was released for its rightful purpose,” commented Illinois Fertilizer & Chemical Assn. Pres. Jean Payne. “Unlike a state budget appropriation, these funds are generated by the industry when fertilizer dealers remit them from the 25 cent per ton fertilizer inspection fee.” Payne noted that with release of the funds “we can now continue our on-farm nitrogen rate trials, embark on residue management and N response research in continuous corn, conduct an economic impact study on the importance of fall applied N to Illinois agriculture and create a downloadable training video on proper ammonia transfer and safety for farmers, which are just a few examples of the program approved by the Fertilizer Research and Education Council for 2008.”
Bayer and three others settle imidacloprid suits
Research Triangle Park, N.C.-Worldwide Bayer CropScience isn’t saying anything publicly beyond a short statement that there has been a final settlement in the lawsuits against three smaller competitors over patent infringement involving Bayer’s pesticide imidacloprid combined with fertilizer. “The terms of the settlement are confidential, and we can’t comment past the information in the press release,” Bayer spokesman Greg Coffey responded to Green Markets. The suits against Etigra and Nufarm, which is involved because of its acquisition of Etigra that was completed earlier this month, have been dragging on for months. Apparently the latest agreement amounts to a reaffirmation by the parties that Bayer’s patent is valid and enforceable. Some of the same was stated last December in the joint announcement from Bayer and Nufarm that they had reached a settlement granting Nufarm and its business partners freedom to operate under the patented imidacloprid on fertilizer technology, including commercializing products incorporating the patented technology. Bayer filed suit in February against Control Solutions. “Bayer is pleased that the validity of its imidacloprid on fertilizer patent has again been affirmed,” Joshua Weeks, head of professional products business for parent company Bayer Environmental Science in North America, said in the statement. “Research efforts from companies like Bayer CropScience are based on a foundation of respect for intellectual property rights. This respect enables the significant investments needed to generate future technical innovations.”