Tampa — City officials are going to great lengths to spread the word about the ban on fertilizing lawns this summer – the length of a city bus, as a matter of fact. Large orange rolling billboards declaring “Choose fun. Not fertilizer.” are now being displayed on the outside of two HART (Hillsborough Area Regional Transit) buses as they make their rounds through the city. Earlier the Tampa City Council renewed its ban on summer fertilizer, which covers sales to homeowners and residential applications by professionals from June 1 to Sept. 30 and coincides with the major part of Florida’s rainy season. Golf courses, theme parks, farms, and community gardens are exempt. City officials are using a $6,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to pay for the bus signs and other advertisements to get the word out to the public about some of the strictest regulations in the state. When it’s allowed to be used, granular nitrogen fertilizer must be no less than 50 percent slow-release, and fertilizer containing phosphorous cannot be applied unless a soil analysis indicates a deficiency. Commercial applicators must complete an approved Green Industries Best Management Practice training program, and their vehicles must display a decal issued by the environmental protection commission of Hillsborough County. But the ban doesn’t mean all fertilizer will vanish from the stores, which still will be able to sell fertilizers built around iron, which keeps lawns green without causing concerns about nutrient runoff into the waterways. Tampa imposed its first fertilizer ban in 2009, just days before a statewide ban on local regulations on fertilizer use took effect.
Urbana, Ill. — OSHA has cited Flex-N-Gate with nine serious safety and health violations for failing to monitor workers’ exposure to sulfuric acid and other regulated chemicals while cleaning electroplating tanks at the company’s bumper manufacturing plant here. Proposed fines resulting from a December 2011 inspection total $57,000. Four of the violations, which also involved nickel, chromium, chromic acid, and hydrochloric acid exposure, related to medical surveillance for workers performing decorative plating operations in regard to chromium and chromic acid exposure. The violations included failure to provide periodic examinations of exposed body parts, implement an effective respiratory program, identify and evaluate respiratory hazards, or provide medical evaluations for respirator use and fit-testing for respirators. Urbana-headquartered Flex-N-Gate employs more than 12,450 people at 50 manufacturing and nine product development and engineering facilities throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Spain. The Urbana plant previously was inspected by OSHA in October 2010, resulting in citations for two serious violations.
North Hollywood, Calif. — An accidental release of sulfuric acid in a North Hollywood high school chemistry lab Monday June 11 caused a temporary campus evacuation and led to four persons being taken to the hospital to be checked over, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The release occurred at East Valley High School when a teacher reportedly mistook sulfuric acid for nitric acid while performing an experiment for 45 students in the class. The teacher immediately closed the container, placed it under a ventilation hood in the classroom, and moved the students from the room. Officials said there was no fire, explosion, or obvious injuries, but the school was evacuated and students assembled on the athletic field. The 45 students and teacher in the chemistry lab were individually examined at the scene by fire department responders and an emergency physician who serves as the fire department medical director. Two adults and two students with minor medical complaints were taken to an area hospital by ambulance for further evaluation.
East Fishkill, N.Y. — A junior high school student is facing possible criminal charges for throwing a small bottle of sulfuric acid at his fellow science lab classmates on June 13, according to Fishkill police. “He basically took the cap off the bottle and threw it across the room,” Police Lt. Kevin Keefe told Green Markets. “It was a four-ounce bottle and it sprayed on those it passed over.” Keefe said 17 eighth graders and a female custodian were decontaminated on site and taken to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, where they were examined and released. Under an agreement with the community, a nearby IBM facility sent a hazmat crew to take care of the classroom by putting down neutralizer and cleaning up acid on the floor.
Boise — The J.R. Simplot Company, Agrium/NuWest Industries, and Monsanto, all of whom mine phosphate in Southeast Idaho’s Caribou County near the Wyoming border, have joined with the Idaho Conservation League and Trout Unlimited to voluntarily improve the Blackfoot River’s fish habitat and water quality. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a conservation group critical of phosphate mining operations, is not participating. The Blackfoot River is renowned as a Yellowstone cutthroat fishery. In addition to mining, it also has been impacted by livestock grazing, road construction, and farming. The Upper Blackfoot River Initiative for Conservation (UBRIC) plans to start river restoration projects this year. In February, UBRIC finalized assessing habitat conditions and obstacles, compiling fish population data to guide its efforts. Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), Simplot, Agrium, and Monsanto have been involved for a number of years in cleaning up Superfund phosphate mining sites where selenium has contaminated waterways, killing livestock and aquatic life.
Boise — The J.R. Simplot Co. is among six major U.S. companies to join the Better Buildings Challenge and commit to reducing energy use in their facilities by at least 20 percent by 2020. Simplot has committed to improving energy efficiency at its 16 U.S. manufacturing plants by 25 percent over 10 years. Four of them have already improved by 25 percent the last three years. The company has driven waste from processes, trained employees in best practices, worked with communities, and partnered with suppliers to do so.
Basil, Switzerland — Syngenta has announced that Sun Gro Horticulture Ltd., the leading North American producer of horticulture growing media in North America, including
peat-lite and bark-based mixes, has signed an agreement to acquire the Fafard peat unit of the lawn and garden business. Under the terms of the agreement, Sun Gro of Bellevue, Wash., and Vancouver, B.C., will acquire all Fafard’s U.S. and Canadian assets, including employees and production plants. “Our strategy is to deliver innovative solutions that make flowers easy and rewarding to grow for professional horticulturalists and for end consumers,” said Robert Berendes, Head of Business Development. “We will collaborate with Sun Gro both commercially and in R&D to include growing media in our integrated offers. Expansion of these offers will be driven by our leading portfolio of genetics and chemical controls.” Fafard had sales of $88 million in 2011. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Kansas City, Kan. — Cheese manufacturer Swiss Valley Farms Cooperative has agreed with EPA to pay a $33,880 civil penalty to settle two violations of environmental regulations related to the public reporting of nitric acid and nitrate compounds at its facility in Luana, Iowa, and also will purchase $10,786 in emergency response equipment for the community’s fire department. EPA said Swiss Valley Farms failed to submit reports to the agency and the state concerning quantities of toxic chemicals manufactured, processed, or otherwise used at the facility during 2009. During calendar year 2009, the facility manufactured, processed, or otherwise used 187,000 pounds of nitric acid and 71,000 pounds of nitrate compounds.
Boston — Starting in 2014 there will be no more throwing food wastes into the garbage for hospitals, universities, hotels, large restaurants, and other big businesses and institutions if Massachusetts officials are able to carry out their aim of turning a liability into a resource, including energy and fertilizer. “When in place, Massachusetts would be the first state to require diversion of all organics, with the caveat that as currently envisioned only commercial and institutional companies would be required to adhere to it. It would not extend to residents,” explained Patrick Serfass, executive director of Washington-based American Biogas Council. “It is a really good beginning because there is a lot of organic waste in the commercial and industrial section.” Massachusetts officials said the proposed rule is aimed at diverting a third of the nearly 1.4 million tons of organic waste produced every year in Massachusetts from landfills by the end of the decade. Instead, it would go to composting sites and a new generation of specially designed plants that convert waste into energy, heat, and fertilizer. They acknowledge the expense of a new system, but they say diverting food waste to the plants or compost facilities would ultimately save most businesses and large institutions money. The restaurant industry views it differently, saying that any additional expense could be a big issue, and that timely disposal of food waste could become a real concern. There is already a well-developed network of farm composting of commercial food wastes in western Massachusetts that includes over 70 business locations diverting approximately 22,000 tons of organic materials to seven composting farms, which advocates point out is saving valuable disposal capacity and is helping the environment.
Colleyville, Tex. — Colleyville police and fire responders evacuated nearby businesses and cut off access to the area after a forklift operator was injured in a sulfuric acid spill Wednesday, June 13, while trying to move a tank containing 220 gallons. The injured man was taken to Baylor Regional Medical Center with chemical burns on his extremities. Information on his condition was not available from hospital personnel, but one of the responders said he heard the man was in stable condition shortly afterwards and that his injuries were not life-threatening. “Apparently he broke the valve off the bottom of the tank while trying to slide it or lift it,” reported Colleyville Fire Marshal Rob McKeown. He said as far as he could tell there was only one sulfuric acid tank involved, but there were a lot of other containers in the warehouse area that apparently held different types of chemicals. He said none of these was damaged. Officer Raymon Cannon, public information specialist for the Colleyville police department, told Green Markets the acid made its way down the driveway into the street and storm drain, but responders were able to stop the chemical from flowing into the storm system by using absorbent material and barriers. “Had it rained recently it would have been a different story,” Cannon added. He described the building as being used in front as an office area and in the back as a warehouse.
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