Bankrupt Fertilizer Maker to Lay Off Most Workers

BY JEFF AMY
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Phosphates says it will lay off all but about 50 employees as the bankrupt fertilizer company ends production and seeks a buyer.

When it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on October, the Pascagoula company said it had 224 employees and 26 contractors.

Mississippi Phosphates says it will stop making diammonium phosphate fertilizer early next week, and lay off workers over the next two weeks.

In court papers, the company seeks to hire an investment bank and a chief restructuring officer to aid the sale.

Two small subsidiaries also filed for Chapter 11, but parent company Phosphate Holdings Inc. did not.

Mississippi Phosphates has faced environmental scrutiny for releasing acid into the air and water at its Bayou Casotte plant. The company says remaining workers will continue treating wastewater.