http://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/yara-reports-strong-firstquarter-results-20150424-00036
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Cofferdam on Nolichucky Won't Be Replaced
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A cofferdam on the Nolichucky River was damaged during recent severe weather and a spokeswoman for US Nitrogen says it will not be replaced.
The cofferdam became completely submerged during recent storms, according to local residents, with only a small section of blue plastic showing above the river's waterline. It was constructed as part of a $200 million project to build an ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility in neighboring Greene County.
Company spokeswoman Amanda Jennings said Tuesday the construction on the riverbed had already been completed and the cofferdam was scheduled to be removed in a few days.
"No delay are anticipated in the completion of the pipeline and the water system," she said in an email response to questions.
Her comments come just a day after a Cocke County board voted to ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to complete an environmental impact report on the effect of the pipeline on Cocke County.
Opponents of the project had asked the commission to seek the environmental review.
Jennings said that prior to the vote US Nitrogen officials had presented the board with documentation of the permits and approvals the project has obtained from state, federal and local agencies.
The 12 mile pipeline will be used to take a million gallons of water per day from the river for use in the manufacturing process.
wfrochejr999@gmail.com
A cofferdam on the Nolichucky River was damaged during recent severe weather and a spokeswoman for US Nitrogen says it will not be replaced.
The cofferdam became completely submerged during recent storms, according to local residents, with only a small section of blue plastic showing above the river's waterline. It was constructed as part of a $200 million project to build an ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility in neighboring Greene County.
Company spokeswoman Amanda Jennings said Tuesday the construction on the riverbed had already been completed and the cofferdam was scheduled to be removed in a few days.
"No delay are anticipated in the completion of the pipeline and the water system," she said in an email response to questions.
Her comments come just a day after a Cocke County board voted to ask the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to complete an environmental impact report on the effect of the pipeline on Cocke County.
Opponents of the project had asked the commission to seek the environmental review.
Jennings said that prior to the vote US Nitrogen officials had presented the board with documentation of the permits and approvals the project has obtained from state, federal and local agencies.
The 12 mile pipeline will be used to take a million gallons of water per day from the river for use in the manufacturing process.
wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Cansler Land History Includes Hazardous Waste Charges
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
It was more than two decades ago when state and local officials held a news conference to announce a series of indictments stemming from a two year investigation of charges that a foam rubber manufacturing firm had engaged in widespread illegal dumping of hazardous wastes.
Some of that illegal disposal, the indictment charged, occurred on acres of Greene County farmland owned by the Cansler family.
Employees of Recticel, the indictment charged, buried "drums, containers and boxes containing hazardous waste at a dairy farm and other property in Greene County owned and leased by Steve Cansler."
Steve Cansler and the company Recticel, later renamed Foamex, were among those indicted. Cansler was identified as a maintenance supervisor for Recticel.
At the Sept. 8, 1992 press conference then U.S. Attorney Jerry G. Cunningham called the case the largest prosecution ever brought in the state of Tennessee for environmental violations.
Now some 23 years later Greene County properties once owned by the Cansler family are in the headlines again as the subsidiary of an Ohio explosives manufacturer is putting the final touches on a facility that will produce millions of gallons of ammonium nitrate a week. To make way for that project, US Nitrogen purchased hundreds of acres of county property and Cansler family holdings accounted for a substantial portion.
Even before the indictments, state environmental officials had warned of illegal hazardous waste disposal in Greene County and specifically referred to findings on Cansler family property
"No one knows where all the waste has gone. We'll never be able to account for all of it," D. Larry Gilliam, then a top state environmental official told a reporter for Trilogy magazine in the Spring of 1992.
State and county land records show several properties owned by the Canslers or related companies were sold to US Nitrogen.
They include 43.5 acres from Johnnie Cansler for a $500,000 purchase price in February of 2012. A month earlier US Nitrogen purchased 74.5 acres from Cansler for $558,750.
Records of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency indicate two sites on the Cansler properties have been listed as hazardous waste sites. One site was described as a dairy barn. The second was located on Route 1 in Midway.
On one site alone state and federal enforcement records list 37 violations dating back to the early 90s.
Though published reports in 1993 state that Cansler entered a guilty plea to two counts of the 1992 indictment, he denied in a brief telephone interview that he did so. Asked if any of the pollution sites were sold to US Nitrogen , he said, "I can't help you."
He hung up when asked to explain.
US Nitrogen officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Records do show that some of the charges against Recticel were overturned.
wfrochejr999@gmail.com
It was more than two decades ago when state and local officials held a news conference to announce a series of indictments stemming from a two year investigation of charges that a foam rubber manufacturing firm had engaged in widespread illegal dumping of hazardous wastes.
Some of that illegal disposal, the indictment charged, occurred on acres of Greene County farmland owned by the Cansler family.
Employees of Recticel, the indictment charged, buried "drums, containers and boxes containing hazardous waste at a dairy farm and other property in Greene County owned and leased by Steve Cansler."
Steve Cansler and the company Recticel, later renamed Foamex, were among those indicted. Cansler was identified as a maintenance supervisor for Recticel.
At the Sept. 8, 1992 press conference then U.S. Attorney Jerry G. Cunningham called the case the largest prosecution ever brought in the state of Tennessee for environmental violations.
Now some 23 years later Greene County properties once owned by the Cansler family are in the headlines again as the subsidiary of an Ohio explosives manufacturer is putting the final touches on a facility that will produce millions of gallons of ammonium nitrate a week. To make way for that project, US Nitrogen purchased hundreds of acres of county property and Cansler family holdings accounted for a substantial portion.
Even before the indictments, state environmental officials had warned of illegal hazardous waste disposal in Greene County and specifically referred to findings on Cansler family property
"No one knows where all the waste has gone. We'll never be able to account for all of it," D. Larry Gilliam, then a top state environmental official told a reporter for Trilogy magazine in the Spring of 1992.
State and county land records show several properties owned by the Canslers or related companies were sold to US Nitrogen.
They include 43.5 acres from Johnnie Cansler for a $500,000 purchase price in February of 2012. A month earlier US Nitrogen purchased 74.5 acres from Cansler for $558,750.
Records of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency indicate two sites on the Cansler properties have been listed as hazardous waste sites. One site was described as a dairy barn. The second was located on Route 1 in Midway.
On one site alone state and federal enforcement records list 37 violations dating back to the early 90s.
Though published reports in 1993 state that Cansler entered a guilty plea to two counts of the 1992 indictment, he denied in a brief telephone interview that he did so. Asked if any of the pollution sites were sold to US Nitrogen , he said, "I can't help you."
He hung up when asked to explain.
US Nitrogen officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Records do show that some of the charges against Recticel were overturned.
wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Hearing Set For Monday in New Pipeline Suit
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A new suit aimed at blocking a pipeline to the Nolichucky River has been set for 1 p.m. Monday before Chancery Judge Claudia Bonnyman in Nashville.
The case was assigned to Bonnyman earlier this week after Chancellor Russell Perkins recused himself from a related suit citing his friendship with the attorney representing the Tennessee Deparment of Transportation.
The new suit parallels another filed in Nashville challenging the authority of TDOT to issue a permit to build the 10 mile double barreled pipeline from the US Nitrogen plant to the Nolichucky River.
The latest challenge focuses on charges that the pipeline is intruding on property owned by the Renner family and Don Bible.
US Nitrogen has repeatedly denied that the pipeline is being built on private property.
Perkins abrupt recusal came as a surprise since he had been presiding over the parallel suit for several weeks. Both suits include TDOT as a defendant.
A hearing also is expected in yet another legal challenge pending in Greene County Chancery Court.
The pipeline, which is nearing completion, is expected to bring over 1 million gallons of water a day to US Nitrogen's new ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility.
wfroche999@gmail.com
A new suit aimed at blocking a pipeline to the Nolichucky River has been set for 1 p.m. Monday before Chancery Judge Claudia Bonnyman in Nashville.
The case was assigned to Bonnyman earlier this week after Chancellor Russell Perkins recused himself from a related suit citing his friendship with the attorney representing the Tennessee Deparment of Transportation.
The new suit parallels another filed in Nashville challenging the authority of TDOT to issue a permit to build the 10 mile double barreled pipeline from the US Nitrogen plant to the Nolichucky River.
The latest challenge focuses on charges that the pipeline is intruding on property owned by the Renner family and Don Bible.
US Nitrogen has repeatedly denied that the pipeline is being built on private property.
Perkins abrupt recusal came as a surprise since he had been presiding over the parallel suit for several weeks. Both suits include TDOT as a defendant.
A hearing also is expected in yet another legal challenge pending in Greene County Chancery Court.
The pipeline, which is nearing completion, is expected to bring over 1 million gallons of water a day to US Nitrogen's new ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility.
wfroche999@gmail.com
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
TDOT Petitioned to Lift Pipeline Permit
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Two Greene County families are petitioning the Tennessee Department of Transportation to suspend the permit that has allowed US Nitrogen to install part of a 10 mile double barreled 10-mile pipeline along their properties.
The petition comes as the Bible and Renner families have publicly charged that the pipeline is being installed on their respective properties without permission and in violation of a court order.
In the petition filed by Nashville attorney Elizabeth L. Murphy, the Renners and Bibles charge that the permit issued by TDOT violated state law and never should have been issued in the first place.
A US Nitrogen spokeswoman denied that the pipeline work and the pipeline itself infringed on private property.
"The Industrial Development Board and US Nitrogen have deployed a registered land surveyor conducting field verifications to ensure that construction occurs only in the TDOT-established rights-of-way or on property owned by US Nitrogen and the IDB," company spokewoman Amanda Jennings wrote in an email response to question.
She said that the pipeline was being installed "within the boundary of all other utilities, thereby ensuring construction is contained in the state right-of-way."
The Renner and Bible petition filed with TDOT, charges that US Nitrogen has taken "a take-now, pay-later" approach that is causing "irreparable harm" to the properties.
"The Renner and Bible families took all reasonable steps to avoid this," the petition states, adding that "TDOT had no authority to issue the permits."
Affidavits from Don Bible and the Renner family were attached to the petition.
The petition parallels claims in a pending lawsuit in Davidson Chancery Court which concludes that TDOT cannot issue a right of way permit for the benefit of a private company that is not a public utility.
In a surprise development in that court case Tuesday, Chancellor Russell T. Perkins, who has been presiding over the case for more than a month, suddenly recused himself citing his friendship with the general counsel for TDOT.
Perkins' abrupt exit came before considering an emergency motion filed by Murphy that, if granted, could have brought an immediate halt to the ongoing pipeline construction.
In the motion Murphy charged that US Nitrogen was rapidly proceeding with the construction despite a court approved agreement not to trespass on private property.
"The history of events shows a contemptuousness for the court rarely displayed so publicly and intentionally," the motion states.
A hearing in a parallel Greene County suit could come later this week.
The petition filed with TDOT states that work on property owned by the Renners has been going on since March 18 despite pleas by the family that the workers with Sheriff's deputies looking on, are trespassing on private property.
The TDOT filing is just one of several ongoing legal challenges to the US Nitrogen project which will be used to bring more than a million gallons of water a day to the nearly completed Greene County US Nitrogen ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility.
wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Two Greene County families are petitioning the Tennessee Department of Transportation to suspend the permit that has allowed US Nitrogen to install part of a 10 mile double barreled 10-mile pipeline along their properties.
The petition comes as the Bible and Renner families have publicly charged that the pipeline is being installed on their respective properties without permission and in violation of a court order.
In the petition filed by Nashville attorney Elizabeth L. Murphy, the Renners and Bibles charge that the permit issued by TDOT violated state law and never should have been issued in the first place.
A US Nitrogen spokeswoman denied that the pipeline work and the pipeline itself infringed on private property.
"The Industrial Development Board and US Nitrogen have deployed a registered land surveyor conducting field verifications to ensure that construction occurs only in the TDOT-established rights-of-way or on property owned by US Nitrogen and the IDB," company spokewoman Amanda Jennings wrote in an email response to question.
She said that the pipeline was being installed "within the boundary of all other utilities, thereby ensuring construction is contained in the state right-of-way."
The Renner and Bible petition filed with TDOT, charges that US Nitrogen has taken "a take-now, pay-later" approach that is causing "irreparable harm" to the properties.
"The Renner and Bible families took all reasonable steps to avoid this," the petition states, adding that "TDOT had no authority to issue the permits."
Affidavits from Don Bible and the Renner family were attached to the petition.
The petition parallels claims in a pending lawsuit in Davidson Chancery Court which concludes that TDOT cannot issue a right of way permit for the benefit of a private company that is not a public utility.
In a surprise development in that court case Tuesday, Chancellor Russell T. Perkins, who has been presiding over the case for more than a month, suddenly recused himself citing his friendship with the general counsel for TDOT.
Perkins' abrupt exit came before considering an emergency motion filed by Murphy that, if granted, could have brought an immediate halt to the ongoing pipeline construction.
In the motion Murphy charged that US Nitrogen was rapidly proceeding with the construction despite a court approved agreement not to trespass on private property.
"The history of events shows a contemptuousness for the court rarely displayed so publicly and intentionally," the motion states.
A hearing in a parallel Greene County suit could come later this week.
The petition filed with TDOT states that work on property owned by the Renners has been going on since March 18 despite pleas by the family that the workers with Sheriff's deputies looking on, are trespassing on private property.
The TDOT filing is just one of several ongoing legal challenges to the US Nitrogen project which will be used to bring more than a million gallons of water a day to the nearly completed Greene County US Nitrogen ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility.
wfrochejr999@gmail.com
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Judge Rules US Nitrogen Rezoning was Legal
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
A Greene County Chancery Judge has thrown out claims by a group of local residents that the rezoning of a 400 acre tract for US Nitrogen was done in violation of state law.
In a brief but decisive four-page decision Chancellor Douglas T. Jenkins concluded that the actions by the regional planning commission and county commissioners were in compliance with public notice and open meeting law requirements.
Citing the testimony of local officials, Jenkins wrote, "Any public notice requirements were given for the Feb. 8, 2011 Regional Planning Commission meeting when the decision to recommend was made."
He ruled that the planning commission "did not act outside the scope of its authority," adding that he did not believe that "the Open Meeting Act was violated in this particular case."
The suit named as defendants the regional planning board, county commissioners and the county itself. The county commission approved the rezoning following the planning commission's recommendation.
While Jenkins rejected many of the plaintiffs' claims, he stopped short of acting on a motion for summary judgment filed by the defendants. He ordered the defendants to make additional filings before acting on that request,
The suit had charged that there was a lack of adequate public disclosure about the actual beneficiary of the rezoning and that the meetings violated the open meeting act on several counts.
Jenkins, however, concluded that the notice requirements were not violated simply because the applicant for the rezoning, Tom Ferguson, was not the owner of the property.
The plaintiffs also charged that the open meeting statute was violated when commission members met one-by-one in secret with US Nitrogen and other officials prior to the vote.
US Nitrogen, a subsidiary of an Ohio based explosives maker, plans to produce millions of gallons of ammonium nitrate at the facility now nearing completion in Greene County.
The suit is one of several legal challenges to the US Nitrogen project now pending in courts from Greene County to Nashville.
wfroche999@gmail.com
A Greene County Chancery Judge has thrown out claims by a group of local residents that the rezoning of a 400 acre tract for US Nitrogen was done in violation of state law.
In a brief but decisive four-page decision Chancellor Douglas T. Jenkins concluded that the actions by the regional planning commission and county commissioners were in compliance with public notice and open meeting law requirements.
Citing the testimony of local officials, Jenkins wrote, "Any public notice requirements were given for the Feb. 8, 2011 Regional Planning Commission meeting when the decision to recommend was made."
He ruled that the planning commission "did not act outside the scope of its authority," adding that he did not believe that "the Open Meeting Act was violated in this particular case."
The suit named as defendants the regional planning board, county commissioners and the county itself. The county commission approved the rezoning following the planning commission's recommendation.
While Jenkins rejected many of the plaintiffs' claims, he stopped short of acting on a motion for summary judgment filed by the defendants. He ordered the defendants to make additional filings before acting on that request,
The suit had charged that there was a lack of adequate public disclosure about the actual beneficiary of the rezoning and that the meetings violated the open meeting act on several counts.
Jenkins, however, concluded that the notice requirements were not violated simply because the applicant for the rezoning, Tom Ferguson, was not the owner of the property.
The plaintiffs also charged that the open meeting statute was violated when commission members met one-by-one in secret with US Nitrogen and other officials prior to the vote.
US Nitrogen, a subsidiary of an Ohio based explosives maker, plans to produce millions of gallons of ammonium nitrate at the facility now nearing completion in Greene County.
The suit is one of several legal challenges to the US Nitrogen project now pending in courts from Greene County to Nashville.
wfroche999@gmail.com
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Court Testimony: US Nitrogen Site Picked By Local Leaders
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
The controversial site of the new US Nitrogen plant was not picked by company officials but by local development officials who came up with an alternative to the firm's original plan.
The site selection, according to a 44-page deposition filed this week in court, was made by officials of the Greene County Partnership along with local officials and business leaders, according to testimony by Thomas R. Ferguson who heads the non-profit partnership, that played a key part in assembling the project properties.
A transcript of the deposition was one of several documents filed this week in Greene County Chancery Court following a recent hearing in a suit brought by local landowners opposed to the project.
In addition to the deposition, the local residents filed a motion for Chancery Judge Douglas T. Jenkins to amend orders he issued following a Monday hearing in his courtroom.
Setting the stage for a likely appeal, Greeneville attorney Herbert Moncier laid out a series of charges by the local opponents including that local officials "withheld material facts" from the Greene County Planners Committee prior to a favorable vote on the project.
He also repeated charges that the public was not given adequate notice of key details of the project, including the identity of the company, US Nitrogen.
Citing conflicting testimony between Ferguson and state and county planners, the new filings charge that actions were taken in violation of state open meetings statutes. Moncier also charged that the partnership violated state real estate law by negotiating options with landowners even though neither it or Ferguson had a real estate license.
He also asked the judge to allow him to enter into evidence a series of documents he had previously submitted prior to this week's hearings but were rejected because of a missed deadline.
The Ferguson deposition, which was taken on Feb. 9, 2012, details the original contacts between local officials and US Nitrogen representatives.
Under questioning, Ferguson said that the company, through a representative named Allen Wood, presented a proposed site in Greene County in July of 2010. Details on the location of that original site were not disclosed.
"Ironically, the property that Allen (Wood) sent...wasn't the property that's in question today," Ferguson said. "I told Allen, I said we've got another site that might be more suitable."
He said that US Nitrogen officials "liked the idea of owning a large piece of property. They just, they just like to have their privacy."
Ferguson stated that eventually an agency agreement was reached under which the partnership itself would purchase options on the designated parcels without disclosing the ultimate owner. Asked if there was ever any public record of the agreement between US Nitrogen and the partnership, Ferguson said there wasn't.
Ferguson testified that a key meeting between local officials and US Nitrogen representatives occurred on Oct. 26, 2010. By that time, he said, the partnership already had options on two key parcels. According to Ferguson, local businessman Jerry Fortner became involved at that meeting because of his "tremendous knowledge about who the property owners were. One of then was, as a matter of fact, the guy that owns his company (C & C Millwright)."
By mid-November of 2010, Ferguson continued, the partnership had obtained options on all the properties. That was three months before the first public disclosure of US Nitrogen's identity.
Asked why there was no public disclosure, Ferguson said,"I mean the whole process, the business we're in on economic development requires a tremendous amount of confidentiality. Many times we have to sign confidentiality agreements just to have a phone conversation."
Later he testified that a similar process was used earlier when a Wal-Mart facility was considering locating in the county. The effort was successful.
Attorneys for the US Nitrogen project opponents also questioned Ferguson closely about what information he provided to state and local planning officials about the US Nitrogen proposal.
"I totally revealed everything to her and the state planner, so they knew exactly what we were talking about," he said.
Moncier has contested that assertion and had requested to depose Ferguson again based on other deposition testimony, but the request was denied.
Ferguson also was questioned about the involvement in the project of state government officials including Gov. Bill Haslam, who was on hand for the first public announcement that US Nitrogen was coming to Greene County.
Ferguson said local businessman Scott Niswonger contacted the governor and that US Nitrogen's attorneys from the Nashville firm of Waller Lansden "worked directly" with then Commissioner William Haggerty, head of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.
wfrochejr999@gmail.com
The controversial site of the new US Nitrogen plant was not picked by company officials but by local development officials who came up with an alternative to the firm's original plan.
The site selection, according to a 44-page deposition filed this week in court, was made by officials of the Greene County Partnership along with local officials and business leaders, according to testimony by Thomas R. Ferguson who heads the non-profit partnership, that played a key part in assembling the project properties.
A transcript of the deposition was one of several documents filed this week in Greene County Chancery Court following a recent hearing in a suit brought by local landowners opposed to the project.
In addition to the deposition, the local residents filed a motion for Chancery Judge Douglas T. Jenkins to amend orders he issued following a Monday hearing in his courtroom.
Setting the stage for a likely appeal, Greeneville attorney Herbert Moncier laid out a series of charges by the local opponents including that local officials "withheld material facts" from the Greene County Planners Committee prior to a favorable vote on the project.
He also repeated charges that the public was not given adequate notice of key details of the project, including the identity of the company, US Nitrogen.
Citing conflicting testimony between Ferguson and state and county planners, the new filings charge that actions were taken in violation of state open meetings statutes. Moncier also charged that the partnership violated state real estate law by negotiating options with landowners even though neither it or Ferguson had a real estate license.
He also asked the judge to allow him to enter into evidence a series of documents he had previously submitted prior to this week's hearings but were rejected because of a missed deadline.
The Ferguson deposition, which was taken on Feb. 9, 2012, details the original contacts between local officials and US Nitrogen representatives.
Under questioning, Ferguson said that the company, through a representative named Allen Wood, presented a proposed site in Greene County in July of 2010. Details on the location of that original site were not disclosed.
"Ironically, the property that Allen (Wood) sent...wasn't the property that's in question today," Ferguson said. "I told Allen, I said we've got another site that might be more suitable."
He said that US Nitrogen officials "liked the idea of owning a large piece of property. They just, they just like to have their privacy."
Ferguson stated that eventually an agency agreement was reached under which the partnership itself would purchase options on the designated parcels without disclosing the ultimate owner. Asked if there was ever any public record of the agreement between US Nitrogen and the partnership, Ferguson said there wasn't.
Ferguson testified that a key meeting between local officials and US Nitrogen representatives occurred on Oct. 26, 2010. By that time, he said, the partnership already had options on two key parcels. According to Ferguson, local businessman Jerry Fortner became involved at that meeting because of his "tremendous knowledge about who the property owners were. One of then was, as a matter of fact, the guy that owns his company (C & C Millwright)."
By mid-November of 2010, Ferguson continued, the partnership had obtained options on all the properties. That was three months before the first public disclosure of US Nitrogen's identity.
Asked why there was no public disclosure, Ferguson said,"I mean the whole process, the business we're in on economic development requires a tremendous amount of confidentiality. Many times we have to sign confidentiality agreements just to have a phone conversation."
Later he testified that a similar process was used earlier when a Wal-Mart facility was considering locating in the county. The effort was successful.
Attorneys for the US Nitrogen project opponents also questioned Ferguson closely about what information he provided to state and local planning officials about the US Nitrogen proposal.
"I totally revealed everything to her and the state planner, so they knew exactly what we were talking about," he said.
Moncier has contested that assertion and had requested to depose Ferguson again based on other deposition testimony, but the request was denied.
Ferguson also was questioned about the involvement in the project of state government officials including Gov. Bill Haslam, who was on hand for the first public announcement that US Nitrogen was coming to Greene County.
Ferguson said local businessman Scott Niswonger contacted the governor and that US Nitrogen's attorneys from the Nashville firm of Waller Lansden "worked directly" with then Commissioner William Haggerty, head of the state Department of Economic and Community Development.
wfrochejr999@gmail.com
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