Similar versions of this article were published in The Daily Independent, Ridgecrest (Sept. 11, 2026) and The Bakersfield Californian (Sept. 11, 2026)
TRONA — The California Air Resources Board has again objected to the sale of assets of a desert mining company.
With an environmental liability of $76.3 million, the state agency’s cap-and-invest program is the largest creditor, other than the parent companies, in the bankruptcy of Searles Valley Minerals, Inc. Proceedings are underway in federal court in Delaware.
The company is headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., with operations in Trona. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 15, about four months after announcing a reduction of about 55% of its Trona workforce. Trona is in San Bernardino County and many of its employees live in Ridgecrest.
The company remains operational, although it mothballed part of its operation earlier this year, shutting down soda ash production to focus on boron, sodium sulfate, salt and other products.
SVM operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Karnavati Holdings, Inc., which is owned by Nirma Limited, a major Indian industrial conglomerate. Nirma purchased Searles from a private investment firm around November 2007.
According to its court filings, Searles was consistently profitable before the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes — reporting operating profit of $56 million in fiscal year 2017, $46 million in fiscal year 2018 and $52 million in fiscal year 2019. In addition to damage from the earthquakes, the company cited oversupply by lower cost producers of synthetic soda ash from China as a trigger for the bankruptcy filing.
Also in bankruptcy are two affiliated companies, Trona Railway Company LLC and Searles Domestic Water Company LLC.
A hearing set for Sept. 11 was canceled late Thursday after CARB asked the court to halt the sale of SVM, while the state agency pursues an appeal of a ruling against the state agency late last month.
The state agency previously asked the court to ensure that a buyer would have to take on the $76.3 million obligation, but Judge Brendan L. Shannon overruled the request. CARB responded with a narrower objection to the sale on Sept. 4, followed by Thursday’s request for a stay pending appeal.
Responding on Aug. 21 to CARB’s motion to saddle a future buyer with the environmental debt, the company’s court filing said that “if CARB were to prevail, the Debtors would be forced to liquidate, lay off more than 200 employees, and discontinue operations at their water treatment facility that provides potable water to the residents of Trona, California. In that scenario, there is little doubt CARB would receive nothing at all.”
Continuing, the Searles filing said: “No going concern bidder for the Debtors’ assets is willing to assume the CARB obligations and understandably will require a court order clearly providing that it would not be held liable as a successor for the Debtor’s prepetition CARB obligations that might come due post-closing.”
A separate sale of soda ash contracts to Tata Chemicals North America, characterized in court at a value of $21.5 million, was finalized last month.
But an auction for the Trona “going concern” operations, including the company’s mining, water and rail assets, has been delayed several times. The auction was originally expected to be Aug. 13 and as of Friday morning remains at a date “to be determined.”
In addition to CARB’s objection, the agenda for Tuesday’s hearing, filed on Friday morning, shows the court is expected to consider:
• Searles’ request to approve sale of its core assets.
• Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board’s concerns about how the sale would affect its interests.
• Objections from Process Equipment, Inc., Ardent Companies, and the committee representing unsecured creditors about how sale proceeds will be handled.
• Disputes with several companies with existing contracts with SVM, including Union Pacific Railroad, Progress Rail, Process Equipment and Airgas. Issues include how much the companies are owed, and under what terms their contracts could be handed off to a future buyer.
What’s next?
Another hearing is set for Sept. 24. Referenced as an “omnibus hearing,” it would allow the court to consider a variety of matters, and the notice did not include a specific agenda.
That hearing is also expected to take up a motion setting deadlines for creditors to file claims — proposing a 30-day window for most creditors once the order is signed, and a Dec. 14 deadline for government agencies, including CARB and Kern, San Bernardino and Inyo counties.
Case information is online at cases.stretto.com/SVM.
CLAUDIA ELLIOTT is the founder and editor of The Mojave Beat.