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Feature Stories (Vol. 110 No. 7--2/13/2008)

Fertilizer busts out wall at FU Oil plant

By Caroline Downs

A collapsed wall at the Farmers Union Oil fertilizer plant in Kenmare left a huge mess February 5th, but no one was injured in the incident.

The east wall of the building collapsed about 10:30 am as employees were filling a bin inside with granular fertilizer. "We had a couple of hundred tons on the ground," said Scott Balvitsch of Farmers Union Oil, "but we had room inside to put that in some other bins."

Balvitsch said the staff handled the cleanup effort themselves, with assistance from Jason Skar. "He helped with his truck and his grain vac," said Balvitsch. "It took us about 19 hours to get it cleaned up."

The new fertilizer plant was constructed in 2005 at a cost of about $3 million. Last week, the contractors from that project visited the site to determine the cause of the problem and the estimated damages. "They checked it Friday and then returned to (their offices) in Iowa," Balvitsch said Monday afternoon. "Nobody has got back to us yet."

He said the damaged bin and wall could be fixed as early as March. Once the building is completely emptied of fertilizer later in the spring, the contractors will inspect the entire structure for any other potential weaknesses.

Balvitsch also noted the spill and damage to the building should not interfere with any fertilizer demand going into spring planting. "The product loss was limited," he said. "We got it cleaned up right away. And there is no problem for people who had fertilizer contracted with us. If anyone already had product bought at Farmers Union Oil Kenmare, that product is still here."