Topeka — The Shawnee County Commission on July 2 granted a conditional use permit for an anhydrous ammonia facility in the Pottawattamy area over the objections of nearby residents concerned about safety and decreased values of their property. The neighbors who live 570 feet away from the proposed location were the only ones objecting to the installation planned by J.B. Pearl which has ammonia facilities in Jefferson and Douglas counties and has been in the business for about 12 years. According to co-owner Troy Pearl, the commission concluded that the safety mechanism built into the facility and the training the employees would be given would minimize any concern about accidental release. Pearl said that the location in a rural agriculture area also convinced the board to vote unanimously to grant the permit. Pearl said that demand for anhydrous ammonia is growing rapidly in the area, tripling in last 10 years. “We’ve been struggling to have a steady supply of the product,” he noted. The new location will have two storage tanks which hold about 140 tons each.
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Moranbah AN plant begins production
Melbourne — Incitec Pivot Ltd. said July 2 that it has achieved a further milestone at its ammonium nitrate complex at Moranbah in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. The downstream nitric acid, AN solution and AN emulsion, have produced the initial tons of ammonium nitrate. This production was based on imported ammonia. The commissioning of the ammonia plant continues according to plan and will be brought on line in the fourth quarter of IPL’s financial year, after the downstream plants are stabilized. IPL said in May (GM May 21, p. 1) that the Moranbah AN plant is only expected to produce about 50,000 mt for the remainder of 2012, stair-stepping production up to full capacity of 330,000 mt/y in 2015. The project is expected to cost over the budgeted $935 million, but the company said the overspend will not be material. Once up and running, IPL expects Moranbah to generate $165 million in earnings for the 2015 financial year. IPL says the plant’s production is fully booked. IPL said it will be looking at debottlenecking Moranbah for further expansion.
Company to build power plant
Tel Aviv — Israel Chemicals Ltd. has approved construction of a 250 megawatt natural gas-powered combined cycle power plant at Sdom. The plant will replace a smaller facility which runs on gas oil and fuel oil. The cost of the project is put at $320 million. The new plant will serve the company’s ICL Fertilizers unit which produces potash at the Dead Sea. The turbine will be provided by Germany’s Siemens AG. Construction is due to begin the third quarter of 2012 and be completed during the second half of 2015. ICL Fertilizers CEO Dani Chen said that the new plant is part of the company’s strategy to switch to natural gas to meet its energy needs. He added that the use of the combined cycle technology will lower the company’s costs and contribute to lowering air pollution. Israeli energy experts predict that the use of natural gas will substantially reduce the company’s energy costs and further increase its competitiveness. Two years ago Israel Corp., the majority shareholder in ICL signed a long-term supply agreement with East Mediterranean Gas Supply Co. for gas from Egypt. However earlier this year the Egyptian government cancelled all supply agreements with EMG, which supplied the Israeli market. The Israel Corp. is currently in talks with the with the Tamar consortium (Noble Energy Inc, Delek Drilling, Avner Oil and Gas, Isramco and Alon Gas Exploration) for supplies. The huge Tamar gas field located off of Israel’s northern Mediterranean coast is due to begin production in April 2013.
Green Technologies gets Florida go-ahead
Lakeland, Fla. — Green Technologies LLC now has approval from the city commission to go ahead with plans to build a new plant in Lakeland for producing a slow-release organic fertilizer from biosolids produced at a nearby wastewater treatment plant. Commissioners voted 5-2 recently to approve an annexation request for the plant to be located in West Lakeland over the opposition of Habitat for Humanity. Gainesville-based renewable energy company Green Technologies bought 24 acres for the organic fertilizer plant with the plan to locate it next to a city-owned wastewater treatment operation, the West Lakeland Wasteload Reduction Facility. Construction is expected to start by the end of the year. Habitat for Humanity objected that locating a fertilizer plant nearby would destroy its plans for a housing project because of the additional truck traffic it would create. Green Technologies CEO Amir Varshovi told Green Markets that additional traffic involved with the new operation would be insignificant. He said the plant has significant support from the local business community and from environmental groups including the Sierra Club which encourages expansion of renewable products. Green Technologies plans to produce slow-release fertilizer by extracting nitrogen, phosphorous and other micronutrients from the biosolids. Ten jobs are expected to be created, and the facility will produce about 10,000 tons of fertilizer per year.
ICL sole bidder for port; faces regulatory hurdles
Tel Aviv — Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) is the sole bidder for the sale of Eilat port. The other three bidders who qualified – Gadot Containers, Papo Maritime, and Goldbond – dropped out at the last moment, informing the state-owned Corporations Authority that they would not be participating in the tender. The senior officials at the authority are due to convene next week to discuss the latest developments. Israeli financial sources attribute the decision by the three other potential bidders to drop out to a last minute change in the tender and the minimum price set by the authority. The ICL bid is also viewed as problematic and will need regulatory approval if accepted. Israel’s Anti-Trust Commission is likely to intervene and either set conditions for ICL ownership of the southern port or disqualify the company altogether. Labor party leader Shelly Yachimovitch has called for an immediate cancellation of the tender to privatize the port. She said that if ICL wins the tender she will take the matter to the Supreme Court. “At a time when the government presents a bill to reduce the concentration of the economy in the hands of just a few tycoons, it continues to privatize the country’s natural resources and infrastructure to the hands of one family—the Ofer family,” she said. The Ofer family owns 52 percent of ICL through its Israel Corp holding company. Yachimovitch said the government should implement the clause in the tender which allows it to disqualify a bidder on monopolistic grounds. The Labor party leader called for the government to rethink its policy on the privatization of Eilat port, which is Israel’s third largest port and has been handling an increasing share of the burgeoning trade with the Far East. ICL ships some 2.5 million tons of potash and other chemicals via the Eilat port, and the importance of the port has continued to grow in recent years as sales to the Far East increase. ICL accounts for nearly 20 percent of the port’s revenues, and shipments via Eilat are expected to continue to increase in the coming years. In addition, the government is planning a rail line to Eilat which would include a feeder line from Sdom at the Dead Sea specifically for shipping potash. Senior ICL officials have met with government officials handling the sale to clarify the company’s position. The company had demanded that cargo ships at its terminal in Eilat port be given priority over container vessels, but the government’s position is that this would reduce the attractiveness of the proposed privatization.
Israeli bank sees favorable conditions for ICL
Tel Aviv — A leading Israeli investment bank sees signs of a rally in commodity prices that would favorably impact fertilizer companies in general, and Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) in particular. Clal Finance Batucha Brokerage Ltd equity analyst Jonathan Kreizman issued a bullish report on ICL, saying he believes that ICL is in a better situation that its peers. In his report he notes that the company will be able to retain its high profitability despite the stagnation in the potash market. Clal is predicting revenues of $6.976 billion for ICL in 2012, a 1.3 percent decline compared to 2011. That follows two years of rapid growth for the company. The report expects revenues to rebound in 2013 to $7.529 billion, a rise of nearly 8 percent. As for net profits, the report predicts $1.417 billion this year compared to $1.522 billion in 2011, a banner year for the company. Clal is looking for net profits to rise in 2013 to $1.591 billion. Kreizman is looking for relatively stable potash prices over the next two years. The average price for potash in 2012 in the various markets was China $470/mt, India $490/mt, Brazil $510/mt, Asia $510/mt, Israel $300/mt, and Europe $460/mt. The average price for 2013 will remain stable in China and India and rise slightly in Asia, Brazil, and Europe. The report expects ICL to sell slightly less potash this year compared to last – 4.8 million mt, down from 4.9 million mt in 2011, with quantities expected to pick up in 2013 to 5.3 million mt. The Clal report expects little change in phosphate revenues and predicts phosphate rock production of 1.8 million mt, down from 2.5 million mt in 2011, with a rebound in 2013 to 2.1 million mt. Phosphate revenue is expected to remain relatively stable, dropping slightly this year to $1.133 billion from $1.2 billion last year, and then rising again next year to $1.215 billion.
PotashCorp donates $250,000 to Joplin
Joplin, Mo. — PCS Phosphate Co. Inc. (PotashCorp – Joplin), a subsidiary of Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc., announced July 2 that it has donated $250,000 to the Joplin Schools Foundation to help build a state-of-the-art learning center for Joplin’s high school and career/technical school. Both facilities were destroyed by a massive tornado on May 22, 2011. The disaster claimed the lives of 161 people including seven students and one staff member. Currently, more than 3,200 students attend school in temporary learning facilities as the tornado destroyed or significantly damaged 10 of Joplin’s 20 schools. The new facility is scheduled to open in August 2014. PotashCorp – Joplin owns and operates a feed phosphate operation in the small community of 50,000. On May 25, 2011, PotashCorp donated $500,000 to support disaster relief efforts in Joplin and matched PotashCorp employee donations. In addition, PotashCorp emergency response teams from Weeping Water (NB), Marseilles (IL), Cincinnati (OH) and Joplin facilities were immediately dispatched to assist local authorities in ongoing relief and rebuilding efforts which residents dubbed “Operation Rising Eagle.” “Despite the shock and pain of the tragedy, the people of Joplin demonstrated their courage and resilience by beginning the rebuilding process immediately,” said Bill Doyle, PotashCorp president and CEO . “This process continues, and the people of PotashCorp are proud to unite with residents in their brave efforts at re-establishing a thriving community with improved facilities for learning and community building.”
Simplot unit continues ôstarö status
Conda, Idaho — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has again honored employees who work at the J.R. Simplot Co.’s Conda pump station near Soda Springs, Idaho, for continued participation in a safety program that earned them “star” status from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The pump station moves phosphate slurry from Simplot’s Smoky Canyon Mine near the Idaho/Wyoming border to Simplot’s fertilizer complex west of Pocatello – a distance of nearly 90 miles. The station is about 27 miles from the mine and about 60 miles from the Don Plant. The Conda station includes a machine shop, welding shop, four 1,200 horsepower driven pumps, offices and a control room to monitor operations. It was first approved as a “star” site in 1996 and has maintained that status since.
No letup in Toledo controversy over biosolids
Toledo, Ohio — S&L Fertilizer, which took over all the city’s biosolids contracting in a controversial move by the city council late last year, is now being required by Ohio EPA to hire a consultant to assure there’s no leakage from the S&L processing site into Lake Erie and the Maumee River. “S&L will have two years to hire the consultant, develop testing and analysis procedures, and report back to the EPA,” reported Ohio EPA spokesperson Dina Pierce. Apparently Ohio EPA decided to take action due to numerous complaints received from N-VIRO, which lost the estimated $1 million a year biosolids contract to S&L, and city council members. N-VIRO complained to the Ohio EPA that the S&L site isn’t equipped to handle the volume of sludge. Councilman D. Michael Collins told Green Markets that Lake Erie constitutes over 20 percent of America’s freshwater supply, and is one of our country’s most valuable natural resources. Collins said he cares about maintaining the integrity of the area and is very concerned about the environmental impact of sewage sludge on the western basin of Lake Erie. According to Collins, the amount of sewer sludge going to the facility has increased to 50,000 tons each year, and the sludge is dumped on 70 acres of ground at Maumee Bay. Another 25,000 tons went to the landfill. “A consultant needs to perform an in-depth study for relationship between sewage sludge and algae blooms,” insisted Collins. The councilman has also demanded public records from port of authority, S&L, and the Ohio EPA. Dr. Robert Vincent has used satellite photography in the area, and reports an increase of algae bloom contamination over the past three years. In the fall of 2011, the city of Toledo had dual contracts with N-VIRO and S&L.
Truck firm fined for 2011 acid release
Boston — The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has assessed a $26,000 penalty against The Suttles Truck Leasing Co. for violating state hazardous waste management, industrial wastewater, and underground storage tank regulations. An inspection of the facility in April 2011 by MassDEP following a nitric acid release found the company in violation of hazardous waste requirements, including failure to notify the department of hazardous waste activity and of waste oil recycling, failure to comply with container management requirements, and storing waste oil longer than allowed. Other violations included operating a wastewater pre-treatment system without a licensed wastewater treatment operator, failure to keep inventory records for underground storage tanks on the property, and failure to comply with other underground storage tank requirements. A payment of $6,500 is being required, with the remainder being suspended if the company returns to compliance. In addition, MassDEP is requiring three supplemental environmental projects – at a cost of $19,500 – involving providing a thermal imaging unit for the Grafton Fire Department, $10,000 to help fund the Grafton’s Reverse 911 System, and emergency responder hazardous materials cargo tank training for up to 100 members of the Grafton, Upton, Oxford, and New Bedford fire departments. The nitric acid incident caused release of a vapor cloud and forced officials to evacuate the neighborhood, including the North Grafton Elementary School. Company officials blamed the release on employee error. The vapor cloud, which appeared to have a reddish tint, resulted when an employee mistakenly mixed four gallons of nitric acid with 20 gallons of wastewater in a 200-gallon container, Fire Chief Michael Gauthier said, explaining that nitric acid reacts violently when mixed with water.