On Tuesday, Emporia might take its next step toward a biodiesel plant.
The plant’s site, located east of Norfolk Iron & Metal, has to be zoned for heavy industry and get a conditional use permit before construction can start. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Emporia-Lyon County Metropolitan Area Planning Commission will decide whether to recommend that zoning, which would then have to be approved by the Emporia City Commission.
If approved, the plant would be built by Renewable Energy Group, an Iowa company, and use soybean oil from Emporia’s Bunge North America plant to make biodiesel fuel.
One question REG might have to face on Tuesday is rainfall. Some neighbors have said that the flat terrain in the area holds rainwater extremely well. Paul Baldomino, who lives nearby, said that partly-filled ditches in some places and a lack of ditches in others have aggravated the situation.
“It’s a constant nothing-but-mess out there,” Baldomino said. “If you have a dry spell and one inch of rain, it won’t be noticed. But if you have one inch of rain and then two inches of rain — then you’ve got a problem.”
City Engineer Keith Beatty said that any development of half an acre or larger has to have a plan for stormwater detention. And a development the size of the REG plant — 41.5 acres — comes under the most restrictive rules, which requires a drainage study, an erosion control plan and the ability to handle the runoff of a once-in-100-years storm.
“I wouldn’t say these are strict requirements, but they’re the strictest we have,” Beatty said.
Another question looks toward the future — if the plant’s prospects come and go, but the heavy industrial zoning stays, what might pop up in its place?
Kevin Hanlin, the secretary to the planning commission, said that some sort of restrictions would probably be put in place to keep the zoning from being abused. He gave the example of the former Modine building on Industrial Road, which was rezoned from industrial to commercial use, but loses that new zoning if it can’t find a buyer by mid-2008.
“I think they’re going to limit it down, just to the original light industrial uses,” Hanlin said. “We’ve discussed a number of different options for that.”
REG has said that the plant’s operation will be a “closed-loop” process with no noticeable odor or sound. Some communities elsewhere have reported problems with biodiesel plants, though. In Carthage, Mo., a plant owned by Renewable Environmental Solutions was ordered to close in late 2005 after six citations by state environmental officials and several complaints of foul odors from residents. The plant, which used turkey byproducts to make fuel, reopened in early 2006 after installing $2 million in odor-control equipment.
Tuesday’s meeting will be at the city conference room in the civic auditorium, 521 Market St. Supporters and opponents of the rezoning and conditional use permit will be heard.
If there are concerns about flooding or anything else, Hanlin said, “Now is probably the time to bring that up.”
blulitespecial (anonymous) says...
Usually odors,fumes, and chemical "dust" is a result of an older filtration system(or none at all).Systems designed in the last 5-25 years that allow this to escape are broken! When you need to maintain and replace components in a filter/scrubber/recovery type of system,the designers of the system mean just that.Closed loop systems can be tweaked over time to reduce overhead,but increase waste.Most maintenance schedulers put this type of repair work pretty low on the list of things to do.More so after a couple of years go by.It gets to the point where a supervisor or employee or contractor says "scr** it-dump it-get it out of here".Sound control sytems usually get left off equipment in pieces,to be thrown out someday.Ever hear a loud whining blower from 4 miles!! outside of Emporia? One way to keep systems in compliance is sampling stations in the surrounding area that the companies have no access to.There are others.One more thing.Wait till you get storms and some flooding.Then a water main breaks under 20 million dollars worth of machinery.The floor rises a foot above original grade.Where's this runoff gonna go? Prepare for it ahead of time.
April 24, 2007 at 11:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Doug (anonymous) says...
Most maintenance schedulers put this type of repair work pretty low on the list of things to do. ????????????Where did you get this figure?????????????
April 24, 2007 at 4:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jones (anonymous) says...
We need a biodiesel plant in Emporia like we need a hole in our head(Tyson Smells bad enough ) What we could and should really focus on is bringing aTarget,K-mart,Lowes,Home Depot,etc etc. get the drift bring some businesses (known)and watch Emporia grow selling the fairgronds for the deal was good.Develop Emporia watch the revenue grow ,good for them good for Emporia,good for Emporians now and in the FUTURE.
April 24, 2007 at 8:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
blulitespecial (anonymous) says...
My above post was not meant as a negative thing.I get this "scheduling figure" from 40 years in the business.Most larger plants have several maintenance departments,so several schedulers.Smaller plants with a smaller crew can possily have a better handle on the overall status of the plant.Production comes first,maintenance second.Product makes money,maintenance costs money.They may not have the manpower,budget,or the parts may be on a ship from Germany.It may not be possible to repair certain systems until a shutdown is scheduled.Been there,done it,got the T-shirt(s),wore'em out,cleaned my tools with it,threw it away.Again-not a negative comment.It can,will,and does happen on a regular basis.It's part of manufacturing.This plant is not a bad thing.It is a value added business.Meaning it generates capitol and jobs.It actually "makes" something.Sales from big box stores,while nice to have nearby,do not generate capitol.Warehouses,fast food places,and distribution centers do not generate capitol.In this area,we need more real manufacturing.And plan for it.
April 24, 2007 at 10:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )