The bankruptcy court handling the liquidation of Farmland Industries Inc.’s assets has appointed a Louisiana firm to take over the agriculture cooperative’s fertilizer plant east of Lawrence.

As the trustee, Shaw Environmental and Infrastructure Inc., of Baton Rouge, will be responsible for finding a buyer for the 467-acre property and continuing environmental cleanup.

A Missouri businessman considering buying the site to make hydrogen fuel cells lost interest, and Shaw took control of the property on Saturday.

Tim Daugherty, who was Farmland’s vice president of administration, said he is optimistic that someone will buy the property, located along Kansas 10, an increasingly developed corridor between Lawrence and the Kansas City area.

“It will take some time to deal with all the issues out there, but it will be bought because it is a great industrial site,” he said.

Fertilizer was produced on the property from 1954 to 2001, and Daugherty said work continues to remove much of the fertilizer production equipment.

He said Farmland officials accepted an initial bid from Louisiana Chemical Equipment Co. for much of the equipment, but other prospective buyers have the opportunity to match or top that bid at an auction in Kansas City, Mo., on May 12.

Daughtery said the buyer would probably get 12 to 15 months to remove the equipment.

Daughtery also said environmental issues would be addressed, with Shaw having access to $7 million that Farmland placed in an account to continue cleanup. The groundwater has been contaminated by years of fertilizer spills.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment can order Shaw to take over cleanup efforts. Department officials negotiated the amount to be placed in the trust, and have said they believe the $7 million fund is adequate.

“Whether the amount of money is adequate or not, only time will tell, but I think KDHE has been as aggressive as possible in trying to negotiate a good deal,” said Douglas County Commissioner Charles Jones.

However, Jones said is concerned that there were significant asbestos problems in the buildings that weren’t scheduled to be addressed by the trust.