All Posts from April 8, 2013

Arizona town backtracks on acid use

News, News Briefs

Florence — Curis Resources Ltd., Vancouver, last week praised the mayor and council of the Town of Florence in Arizona for rescinding an earlier ordinance that severely limited the use of sulfuric acid in large quantities. Under the ordinance, any non-agricultural use of more than 50 gallons of sulfuric acid within any 30-day period was a misdemeanor, with each day’s use chargeable as a separate offense. Curis is currently focused on advancing its 100-percent-owned Florence Copper Project in the area.

Agrium downplays Jana claims

Breaking Industry News

Agrium Inc. today downplayed predictions by Jana Partners LLC that it would successfully elect at least two members to the Agrium board of directors. Agrium’s shareholder meeting is Tuesday, April 9.

“Agrium remains very confident it will prevail in the proxy contest,” it said in a statement. “Agrium notes that, like the company, Jana has been making the calls to shareholders over the weekend. If shareholders have any questions, please contact Agrium or its proxy solicitors."

Jana predicts partial success

Breaking Industry News

Jana Partners LLC today announced that Barry Rosenstein and David Bullock appear to have enough votes to be elected to the board of Agrium Inc. at tomorrow’s Annual General Meeting April 9. Jana says that while only Agrium knows the vote results for both sides, Jana believes these two of its five nominees will be elected. It bases this on the number of votes received by these nominees and the typical turnout for contested Canadian elections.

Jana thanked Agrium shareholders for casting approximately 59 million votes on the blue proxy for one or more of Jana’s nominees.

Jana said it has been informed that Agrium contacted some shareholders after Friday’s voting deadline, when Agrium received the full vote results, and asked them to switch their votes away from Jana’s nominees.

Jana said Agrium’s meeting rules permit it to extend the voting deadline without public notice if doing so would help the current board win reelection.

"We ask any shareholder contacted by Agrium to hold firm and contact us to correct anything they may hear," said Rosenstein. "Agrium moved up the voting by over a month to end the debate, and it should not extend it because the results were not to its liking."

"We also note that Agrium’s opposition to adding a minority of new voices to the board was based on its claim that an overwhelming number of shareholders did not favor such change," he added. "Now that this has been disproven, it is time to accept that result rather than continuing to fight behind the scenes."

Rosenstein also called on the Agrium board to put the campaign behind it and start the important work of coming together for the benefit of all shareholders.

"There is no good reason why the full board cannot work with a small number of new directors, particularly given the many areas of mutual agreement, including the importance of cost management, the benefits of a shareholder-friendly capital allocation policy, the value of enhanced disclosure to shed light on the value of Agrium’s businesses, and the benefits of properly incentivizing management to profitably grow those businesses," he said. "There is also no harm that can come from hearing our opinions on matters where we disagree. We are ready to put this campaign behind us and turn to the much more fruitful task of working together collaboratively, and we ask that the full board join us in doing so."

PotashCorp, ICL not in talks, says government

Breaking Industry News

The Israeli government has informed the Beer Sheva District Labor Court that there are currently no talks for the sale of Israel Chemicals Ltd. to Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. An attorney representing the government, Yaakov Azulai, informed the court that there were talks in the past, but no formal talks are currently taking place.

However, the attorney representing ICL workers, Gideon Rubin, responded by demanding whether informal contacts or negotiations are taking place. His demand was part of a petition by the workers to receive timely updates and to monitor developments involving the status of the PotashCorp proposal for acquiring ICL. Last month PotashCorp said it would present an updated offer to take over ICL. Israeli government approval is necessary as it holds a golden share in the company following its privatization in the mid-90s. PCS currently holds just under 14 percent of ICL.

Research aims for phosphorus substitute

News, News Briefs

Puyallup, Wash. — Scientists at Washington State University (WSU) believe phosphorus recycled from human and animal waste for plant fertilizer could ease demand for the dwindling, increasingly expensive rock-mined element. They have found plants flourish with struvite, a material in waste composed of magnesium, nitrogen, and phosphorus. Teaming with Multiform Harvest, a Seattle phosphorus recovery company, the researchers are fine-tuning the application and amounts of fertilizer in hopes of marketing a product and benefiting the world’s food supply. "You can’t continue mining a finite resource forever,” said Rita Hummel, a scientist at the WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center. "But as long as we … can reclaim struvite from animal manure and sewage, then this is something that’s sustainable. We’re figuring out how to use it effectively and safely.” Hummel is using Multiform Harvest struvite from wastewater treatment plants at Yakima, Wash., and Boise, Idaho. In addition, struvite from manure at dairy farms could result in the development of regional nutrient recycling. Not only could reclaiming struvite from waste localize production and distribution, but it could also help mitigate water pollution problems such as overloading phosphorus in agricultural soils. Despite WSU’s concerns, the phosphate industry maintains that it is not in danger of running out of reserves any time soon.

Israel Railways plans cargo capacity expansion

News, News Briefs

Tel Aviv — Israel Railways is planning to invest $35 million in expanding its cargo capacity. The state-owned company said it had received approval from the Israeli Finance and Transport Ministries for the plan, which is aimed at increasing its cargo capacity to 300 rail cars a day. Israel Railways said the objective is to double cargo capacity within five years – from 7 million mt a year to 13.5 million mt – and to triple its market share in the cargo field, from 8 percent to 25 percent by the end of the decade. Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL) is the largest customer of Israel Railways, and the increased capacity will enable ICL to increase its use of rail to ship to Ashdod port.

California board suggests fertilizer fee

News, News Briefs

Sacramento — The California State Water Resources Control Board is suggesting a fertilizer fee to the legislature as a way to pay for cleaning up high to extremely high nitrate levels in parts of Tulare and Kings counties and in the Salinas Valley. The board’s report cites the findings of a 2012 UC Davis study on groundwater contamination stating that “a nitrogen fertilizer fee could compensate affected small communities for mitigation expenses and effects of nitrate pollution.” According to the Western Plant Health Association (WPHA), new legislative fees added to regulatory costs would be a burden to growers, when a more measured approach of allowing growers time to plan for and adopt new regulatory requirements would be a more prudent path forward. Renee Pinel, WPHA president/CEO, reminded legislators that the fertilizer industry has led the way for almost 30 years in developing new practices and technologies in the environmentally safe use of fertilizers. “Through the mill assessment, the industry sponsored the first major study of nitrates in groundwaters and has developed best management practices for the many commodities that make up California’s diverse agricultural markets,” Pinel emphasized. “We hope the legislature will recognize the need for a more comprehensive approach to addressing drinking water concerns than to focus on individual sources that impact groundwaters.”

World nutrient report warns of imbalance

News, News Briefs

Norcross, Ga. — The fertilizer community is urging caution in reacting to the warning contained in an assessment that an international crisis could result from a nutrient imbalance of too much in some areas and not enough in others. While the report, titled Our Nutrient World, acknowledges that the situation has benefitted the world by allowing plants to produce more food, it also criticizes the use of mass-produced nutrients that “cause a web of water and air pollution that is damaging to human health ….” The report points out that the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer has increased nine-fold since the 1960s, and that phosphorus use has tripled. It is projected that the world will increase its demand and use of fertilizers in the next 40 years by 40-50 percent. Without access to fertilizer, however, many parts of the world cannot produce enough food, and old practices continue to degrade the land. Responding to these findings, Dr. Terry Roberts, president of the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI), stressed that many of the findings are valid. “While we agree with the report’s observation that some areas of the world may use too much fertilizer and others not enough, we urge caution in making such generalized conclusions,” Roberts stated. “ We agree that improving nutrient use efficiency in crop production is a key action for agriculture, and we applaud the authors for recognizing the industry’s 4R Nutrient Stewardship program – the right fertilizer source, applied at the right rate, right time, and right place – is one of the fundamental strategies necessary to improve nutrient use efficiency.” The report stated that areas of particular concern include Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia.

Iowa zeros in on farm, wastewater runoff

News, News Briefs

Des Moines, Iowa — In what is probably the first such approach in the country, Iowa is combining efforts to reduce nutrient discharges from both wastewater treatment plants or point sources with agriculture or non-point sources, bringing together the resources of the state’s Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Department of Natural Resources with the Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to assess and reduce nutrients to Iowa waters and the Gulf of Mexico. Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey described the approach as “a scientific evaluation of practices that have been proven to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus, the key nutrients that have been targeted for reduction from agricultural landscapes, combined with feasible and reasonable wastewater treatment technologies for point sources. In addition to farm runoff, the plan addresses the 102 major municipal wastewater treatment plants that process 80 percent of the state’s wastewater, as well as targeted industries. Wastewater treatment plants would need to invest more than $1 billion in capital improvements to meet the nitrogen and phosphorus reduction goals.”

NH3 leaks to cost Tyson over $4 M

News, News Briefs

Washington — The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced April 5 a Clean Air Act (CAA) settlement with Tyson Foods Inc., Springdale, Ark., and several of its affiliate corporations to address threats of accidental chemical releases after anhydrous ammonia was released during incidents at facilities in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Nebraska, resulting in multiple injuries, property damage, and one fatality. Tyson is required to conduct third-party audits of its current compliance with the CAA’s Risk Management Program requirements at all 23 facilities in the four states. The third-party auditors must have expertise in ammonia refrigeration systems, be recognized experts in risk management program compliance, and be approved by EPA. Tyson must correct any violations discovered in the audits and certify the completion of the work. Tyson has also agreed to test certain piping used in its refrigeration systems at the facilities to identify any problems that may have led to accidental releases and to replace any non-compliant piping. Tyson will pay a $3.95 million penalty. In addition, Tyson has agreed to implement a supplemental environmental project to purchase $300,000 worth of emergency response equipment for first responders in communities with significant environmental justice concerns in which Tyson operates facilities. The 23 Tyson facilities named in the consent decree are subject to the regulations because the refrigeration systems at the facilities each contain more than 10,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia. The facilities have a combined inventory of more than 1.7 million pounds of anhydrous ammonia. Tyson is the world’s largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork. The proposed settlement, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval.

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