Fertilizer firm files FOI suit

A fertilizer company from Tampa, Fla., with a terminal at the shuttered Port of Port Royal recently filed a freedom of information lawsuit against the State Ports Authority.

The import company, which was forced to abandon its site at the port by a legislative change, is seeking damages from the state to compensate for the loss of its terminal space.

Yara North America, which offloaded shipments at the port, recently filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Charleston seeking information from the State Ports Authority. Yara wants the SPA to hand over numerous documents tied to the site's closing in 2004.

The SPA said the company should get the documents it seeks through the arbitration process, not the courts. Agency spokesman Byron Miller said Yara is seeking to use the state's Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, "to circumvent legal procedures for obtaining documents under discovery."

"We're in arbitration, and we're acting in good faith," Miller said.

Yara's attorney, John Wilkerson, said arbitration is limited as it relates to document requests. "Full discovery is generally not available in arbitration," Wilkerson said. "We're seeking all remedies that are available to us."

Miller disagreed, saying Yara is allowed full discovery in arbitration.

According to the National Arbitration Forum, one party in arbitration can request documents from the other party in a cooperative discovery process. If the request is not satisfied, the petitioner can seek a court hearing so long as the process of making the information available is not "unduly burdensome and expensive."

Responding to Yara's second request, the SPA specified which documents it felt were exempt from disclosure and suggested Yara narrow what it wanted — or pay an advance deposit of $5,000 for the labor necessary to pore through records.

Yara sent its first request in October 2007 under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, which does not apply to the SPA, a state agency. The SPA responded by sending only a map of the Port Royal site. Yara then sent another information request — this time citing state law — asking for communications dating back five years. That prompted the request for the $5,000 deposit.

Yara leased space at the Port of Port Royal near Beaufort from 2001 until the General Assembly ordered the port closed in 2004. The SPA put the land up for sale in 2005. In March, a prospective buyer pulled out of a $26 million deal to turn the land into a real estate development.

Wilkerson said he expects to find "nothing nefarious" in the documents requested. The company uses another port now, he said, but has not yet tabulated losses suffered in Port Royal.

John P. McDermott of The Post and Courier contributed to this story.