All Posts from March 12, 2012

Trade groups, fert businesses press EPA to drop its Florida nutrient rule and adopt the stateÆs own criteria

News

Some 48 organizations and businesses on March 1 sent a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson, urging her to approve the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP) Numeric Nutrient Criteria (NNC) rule and withdraw EPA’s own numeric nutrient criteria for Florida waters.

The letter’s signers include The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA), Agrium U.S. Inc, CF Industries, PotashCorp, International Raw Materials Ltd., and the J.R. Simplot Company. Also included are numerous state agribusiness associations.

The FDEP NNC rule, developed as an alternative to EPA’s contentious Water Quality Standards for the State of Florida’s Lakes and Flowing Waters, has received support from industry and was unanimously approved by the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission (ERC) and the Florida Legislature, and signed by Gov. Rick Scott (GM Feb. 27, 2012).

“Florida is recognized as a national leader in implementing a sophisticated suite of water quality and technology-based nutrient management programs to protect its water bodies,” the letter states. “In fact, FDEP has spent more than $20 million during the last decade to collect and analyze data related to the concentrations and impacts of nutrients in Florida’s water bodies. By utilizing this data and analysis, FDEP has worked tirelessly over the past year to develop scientifically defensible water quality standards. While there will be significant costs associated with these standards, we believe they are technically achievable standards that our members and other stakeholders will be able to meet while working in partnership with the state.”

EPA’s numeric nutrient criteria for Florida waters were promulgated in December 2010 after the agency was sued by a number of environmental groups for failing to enforce Clean Water Act standards in the state. Opponents of the EPA standards argue that they are too costly, over-reaching, and lack sound science. Unlike the federal standards, the FDEP regulations requires a study to determine if pollutants are actually causing biological harm in a particular water body before any enforcement action can be taken.

“EPA has acknowledged that states must take the lead in addressing nutrients,” the letter states. “After all, it is the states that are best suited to deal with issues related to their unique landscapes and climates.”

On March 9, TFI issued a statement regarding a National Research Council (NRC) study which found that EPA underestimated the costs associated with implementing NNC standards for lakes and flowing waters in Florida. The study also questioned the validity of several assumptions in the EPA cost analysis and found that EPA did not adequately report on the uncertainties that could affect the cost of the rule change.

“The Fertilizer Institute is not surprised by the findings of the National Research Council’s study which reveal that EPA underestimated the costs associated with implementing numeric nutrient criteria in the state of Florida,” said TFI President Ford West. “The potential cost to the agricultural sector has been a primary concern for TFI while addressing this issue. The National Research Council’s report validates the agricultural community’s position regarding the enormous cost associated with implementation of EPA’s rule.

TFI said the NRC study also supports its opinion that the state of Florida, not EPA, should be responsible for the development and implementation of water quality standards that are science-based while avoiding unnecessary costs to the state’s citizens. TFI said it “strongly believes” that the FDEP NNC rules are “the appropriate vehicle for improving water quality in the sta

PotashCorp makes major donations

News, News Briefs, Potash Muriate, Saskatchewan

Saskatoon — Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. announced a total C$500,000 gift to the Kinsmen Telemiracle Foundation during its recent telethon. “One of our goals is to improve the quality of life in communities where we operate,” explained Rhonda Speiss, Manager of Corporate Philanthropy. “Telemiracle’s commitment to helping Saskatchewan people with special needs, and those who need access to medical treatment, was a perfect fit.” PotashCorp also made a C$750,000 contribution to the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies (SIIT) Foundation to help students in their studies. The donation will be used to transform the institute’s Resource Room into a student success center that will house computers, study programs, and other learning resources to help students earn their diplomas and certificates. “The growth of our company and our province depends on the talents and skills of these young Aboriginal people,” said Garth Moore, President of PCS Potash. “This investment is about feeding the future and ensuring these students have the tools and support they need to complete their programs.” Located in Saskatoon, SIIT is an institution of choice for Aboriginal students looking to pursue careers in business, industrial trades, health care, and information technology.

Orica outage to impact earnings by A$90 M

Ammonia, Ammonium Nitrate, News, News Briefs

Melbourne — Orica Ltd. reports that ammonia production at Kooragang Island has finally resumed. The plant closures (both ammonia and ammonium nitrate) are estimated to have adversely impacted earnings before interest and tax by approximately A$90M this financial year. This will impact earnings in the first half of the financial year; however, in light of strong underlying demand conditions, Orica continues to expect group net profit after tax (pre individually material items) to be higher than that reported in 2011 for the year ending Sept. 30, 2012, subject to global economic conditions.

The Andersons buys another ethanol plant

Midwest, Midwest Cornbelt - Retail, News, News Briefs

Maumee, Ohio — The Andersons Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire an ethanol production facility in Denison, Iowa, from its owners, Amaizing Energy Denison LLC and Amaizing Energy Holding Company LLC. The transaction, which remains subject to several contingencies, is anticipated to close in the second quarter. If acquired, the plant would be owned by The Andersons Denison Ethanol LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Andersons, Inc. "As our first ethanol plant west of the Mississippi, this facility provides us with geographic diversity into some of the best corn ground in the country," says Neill McKinstray, Ethanol Group president. "This purchase enables us to expand our ethanol production, marketing, and services into a new region providing arbitrage and risk management opportunities with the three existing plants we manage while leveraging existing administrative staff to a fourth plant. With much of the same technology in all four plants, we expect to bring additional efficiencies to drive down our cost per gallon, and maximize returns to shareholders as we have successfully demonstrated during the past five years." CEO Mike Anderson added, "This is a well-respected, well-run organization that brings with it a solid customer base in a geographic area that we are looking forward to serving. This ethanol facility enables us to offer our grain marketing expertise and the associated services to grain producers in Iowa and fits well with our existing presence as an investor in the Iowa Northern Railway Co. and our merchandising relationship with Lansing Trade Group." The operations consist of an ethanol facility with an adjacent 2.7 million bushel grain terminal, both with direct access to two Class 1 railroads in Iowa.

Compass unit buys land

Midwest, News, News Briefs

Overland Park, Kan. — Sifto Canada Corp., a subsidiary of Compass Minerals, has acquired the rights to additional property in Goderich, Ont., adjacent to the company’s Canadian salt mine, for C$2.8 million. The company says the additional land and ship berth give the company the opportunity to increase ship-loading capabilities in the future. Other initiatives at the site include an agreement with the town of Goderich and the Goderich Port Management Corp. to expand and enhance the Port of Goderich, which will provide additional rock salt storage and expanded shipping capabilities; introduction of continuous mining equipment and processes that improve productivity; and recently completed multi-phased mine expansion, which expanded annual capability from about 6.5 million mt to about 9 million mt. Compass says the company has overcome the tornado damage from last year and is coming back stronger than ever.

Firm settles fert suit for $10 M

Midwest, News, News Briefs

Kansas City, Mo. — Without admitting any wrongdoing or liability, a Kansas City engineering firm has preliminarily agreed to pay $10 million to a group of northwest Missouri farmers who claimed that fertilizer containing hexavalent chromium from a tanning operation damaged their property. In a prepared statement, Burns & McDonnell Engineering, which provided technical consulting to Prime Tanning, acknowledged it had reached an agreement in the class-action suit “to avoid further court costs and distraction from the company’s business.” Burns & McDonnell had acted as a technical consultant to Prime Tanning. Prime Tanning and an affiliated company, Wismo Chemical Corp., were originally named in the complaint, but were dismissed because of bankruptcy proceedings, leaving the engineering firm as the sole defendant. The settlement was reached Jan. 6, avoiding a three-week trial before Buchanan County Circuit Judge Randall Jackson. Earlier, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency performed an investigation and concluded that the application of Prime Tanning fertilizer did not pose a health concern and that no clean-up of the land was necessary. But the plaintiffs argued that the agencies should have used different screening levels and criteria in their evaluation, and that the properties to which the fertilizer was applied have, in fact, been devalued. Judge Jackson, who has given the settlement “preliminary approval,” is allowing time for the plaintiffs to either opt out or object to the settlement before another hearing on May 7. If the plaintiffs choose to opt out of the class group, individual civil suits can be filed against the company, he told the local press.

450K grant boosts biofuels-to-ammonia effort

Ammonia, Midwest, News, News Briefs

Willmar, Minn. — West Central Renewable Ammonia Development LLC, which is studying the feasibility of a biomass-to-ammonia plant near here, got one of the bigger shares of the $2.4 million in grants awarded by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to encourage development of biofuels for renewable energy. The Willmar project got $450,000, which will help the undertaking supported by the Willmar Economic Development Council to move into the second stage of the feasibility study. “This comes on the heels of a previous effort that indicates there is in the region a substantial biomass supply and probable technical success converting the biomass to ammonia,” explained Cecil Massie, managing member of the LLC. “The study already has found that there is an ample market for the product that we would produce in the immediate vicinity, and based on that finding a number of private and public parties pooled their efforts to move this forward.” Massie described the grant as a critical portion of the funding, allowing engineering and financial work to bring the project into a form that would be potentially financeable. “Key milestones in this area relate to securing a biomass supply, refining the engineering, capital, and operations costs for the project, and then finally preparing the financial statement projecting income and profitability that would cause private parties to invest in building this plant. If we are successful, we’ll have a business plan and financial package that would be the basis for someone to build this plant.” The plant would reportedly take 95,000 st/y of biomass and convert it to 45,000 st/y of anhydrous ammonia.

TFI honors growers/retailers for 4R efforts

News, News Briefs

Washington — The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) has named five American farm operations as 4R Advocates for 2012. The national winners represent farmers and fertilizer retailers
dedicated to the 4Rs of nutrient stewardship – utilizing the right nutrient source at the right rate, the right time, and in the right place. The 2012 4R Grower Advocates, along
with the retailers that nominated them, are Bruce Favinger, Minden, Neb., an 1,800-acre corn and soybean producer nominated by Cooperative Producers Inc., Nebraska; Paul
Loyer, Loyer Farms, Marion, Ohio, a 3,000-acre corn, soybean, and wheat producer nominated by Morral Companies, Morral, Ohio; Temple Rhodes, Chestnut Manor Farm, Centreville, Md., a 2,200-acre corn, soybean, and beef producer nominated by Willard Agri-Service; Barry and Dan Turner, Turner Brothers Farm, Mer Rouge, La., a 5,600-acre corn, soybean, rice, and grain sorghum producer nominated by Crop Production Services, Louisiana; and Todd Welch, Lafayette, Ind., a 2,300-acre corn, soybean, wheat, and pork producer nominated by Crop Production Services, Indiana. The winners and the retailers who nominated them were awarded an expense-paid trip to the 2012 Commodity Classic Feb. 28-March 2 in Nashville, Tenn., where they were honored at an awards banquet hosted by TFI. The 4R Grower Advocates will also be part of TFI’s outreach efforts to promote nutrient management practices that benefit farmers and their communities, as well as the environment.

Agrium AT partners with TFI on smart nitrogen/carbon offset research

News, West Coast

Agrium Advanced Technologies (AAT), Loveland, Colo., said March 6 that it is partnering with The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) on Nitrace, an innovative demonstration project to establish fertilizer application practices designed to reduce greenhouse gases and generate carbon offset credits for agricultural producers. The three-year, $2.86-million project seeks to develop a program that affords participating producers with advice to implement, monitor, and track fertilizer best management practices for nitrous oxide (N2O) emission reductions. The results of the demonstration project eventually may lead to a system that enables agricultural producers to create and sell carbon offset credits into both voluntary and compliance carbon markets.

Nitrace is jointly funded through a U.S. Department of Agriculture Conservation Innovation Grant and matching resources from the project’s participants. Through the partnership, AAT’s ESN controlled-release fertilizer will be available to participant growers during the 2012 and 2013 growing seasons.

“Agrium Advanced Technologies is committed to providing high quality slow- and controlled-release fertilizers,” said Andrew Mittag, President, Agrium Advanced Technologies. “Our commitment extends to real-world product efficiency, which is why we’re pleased to partner with The Fertilizer Institute on the Nitrace demonstration project.”

During the next two growing seasons, AAT will contribute more than $30,000 in donated ESN product to the project. ESN employs a unique polymer coating to help prevent against all forms of nitrogen loss, including volatilization, denitrification, and leaching. ESN is also designed to deliver nitrogen to a growing crop all season long, allowing the crop to effectively reach its full genetic potential.

Corn and soybean producers in Illinois and Iowa will be key participants in the program, tracking the application of ESN and other fertilizers using “4R” best management practices. The 4R system, promoted by TFI and supported by Agrium, encourages responsible fertilizer use – the right source, right rate, right time, and right place. The goal is to assist farmers in adopting practices that minimize nutrient loss from fields.

The Nitrace results are expected to pave the way for agricultural producers to capitalize on their carbon savings, providing a potential new revenue stream by offering crops – and their carbon capture properties – as a commodity to the carbon cap and trading marketplace.

“We are very pleased to partner with Agrium’s Advanced Technologies group, one of our industry’s leaders, through the Nitrace demonstration project,” said Ford West, TFI president. “We both share a commitment to responsible nutrient stewardship and environmental sustainability, and I look forward to the results of this and other projects we are collaborating on.”

In addition to TFI, project partners include Camco, ClimateCHECK, The Climate Trust, International Plant Nutrition Institute, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s National Laboratory on Agriculture and the Environment, Michigan State University, and Colorado State University.

“Collaborative initiatives like this demonstration project are a top priority of Agrium Advanced Technologies’ sustainability initiatives,” said Mittag. “It complements our ongoing sustainability efforts, and our team is eager to see it lead to positive, long-term impacts for agriculture and the environment.”

CVR unit to spend $12 M on emission reduction

Midwest, News, News Briefs

Coffeyville, Kan. — Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing, LLC (CRRM), a unit of CVR Energy Inc., Sugar Land, Texas, has entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment under which it will spend $12 million over the next five years to reduce emissions of SO2 (sulfur dioxides) and NOx (nitrous oxides). The new consent decree will replace a 2004 consent decree that the company entered into when it acquired the refinery out of bankruptcy from Farmland Industries Inc. Under the 2004 consent decree, CRRM agreed to install controls and make operational changes to remedy alleged Clean Air Act violations by Farmland. This new agreement is incremental to the 2004 settlement and satisfies EPA’s National Petroleum Refinery Initiative. EPA says it has already reached settlements with companies representing more than 90 percent of the U.S. petroleum refining capacity. As part of the agreement, CRRM will perform an environmentally beneficial project to reduce air emissions from its wastewater treatment system while simultaneously conserving water by increasing recycling, thereby reducing its draw from the Verdigris River by as much as 15 million gallons per year. "Coffeyville Resources remains committed to operating its facilities in a manner that meets or exceeds environmental regulations," said Robert Haugen, executive vice president of refining operations at CVR Energy. "During the past five years, we have invested more than $550 million in projects to streamline and modernize our operations and improve our environmental footprint at Coffeyville. With these latest capital commitments, our facility will reach state of the art in environmental controls and operate as an equal to any facility in the nation."

Disclaimer of Warranty
All information has been obtained by Green Markets from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our sources, Green Markets or others, Green Markets does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of such information.

For additional details visit our Terms of Use.