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Manatee County, Fla., Residents Air Ethanol Concerns

Posted on: Friday, 16 September 2005, 21:00 CDT

Sep. 16--BRADENTON -- The pros and cons of the proposed ethanol plant for Port Manatee were debated again Thursday night for residents who had questions and concerns.

Port authority members granted a lease option Aug. 5 for the ethanol production plant at Port Manatee, giving Tampa-based U.S. EnviroFuels the go-ahead to seek project permits.

Obtaining the lease option is the first step toward building a $65 million to $70 million facility on port property and creating 30 to 40 jobs in the $50,000-per-year range. Ethanol is a fuel extender and is mixed with gasoline to lower fuel costs.

About 15 residents from Manatee County Commissioner Jane von Hahmann's District 4 advisory meeting heard both rants and raves about ethanol from a local environmental group leader and U.S. EnviroFuels' president.

Bradenton resident Ron Schutz wanted to know why Manatee County was the chosen spot for this plant.

"Why should we host you?" Schutz asked.

U.S. EnviroFuels President Brad Krohn said the economic benefits to the community and ethanol's ability to reduce ozone and smog in the area are the main reasons.

"We will be good neighbors, and the benefit of ethanol in Florida means less dependence on oil," Krohn said.

Residents also had questions about the plant's odor, air quality and large water consumption needs. All three were topics of hot debate last month before the plant's lease option was approved.

Manasota-88 Chairman Glenn Compton said the company's plans still provide more questions than answers.

"The plant being built deserves a lot of scrutiny, and we will continue to keep a close eye on it," Compton said.

But John Plotner of Bradenton welcomed the proposed plant and its possible benefit to the area.

"I know people who were very happy with an ethanol plant in Illinois and what it brought to their economy," Plotner said.

At the meeting, Krohn said U.S. EnviroFuels is expanding from seven to nine partners this week and has had its first pre-application meeting with Manatee County officials for the proposed facility. The company is also working with the Manatee Chamber of Commerce's Economic Development Council to help set up its operation here.

The lease option agreement gives U.S. EnviroFuels two years to get permits before a lease would then be submitted and approved for the 4.75-acre site.

To build the plant, the company will need about 20 acres and will have to request a sublease with port leasee Transmontaigne for an additional 16.5 acres. Pending permits and other hurdles, Krohn has said, the plant could be up and running in 18 to 24 months.

In the Midwest, where the raw materials for corn-based ethanol are grown, there are gas stations serving up a gas-ethanol blend.

A big step in the company's plan is entering a contract with Manatee County that will guarantee it 500,000 gallons of reclaimed water per day. In exchange, the county would receive 500,000 gallons per day of groundwater provided by U.S. EnviroFuels. The company will also provide an additional 200,000 gallons of groundwater daily to provide a net benefit to the county's water resources.

The water needed must come from an existing permitted user because the plant will sit in an area of the Southwest Florida Water Management District's Southern Water Use Caution Area that is in a most-impact-area limit, or one that does not allow any additional users. U.S. EnviroFuels is working on that plan. Krohn said the plan is "very creative."

An initial air permit has also been submitted to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Krohn said. The company has said the plant would be ultra-low in odor and that air emissions would be minimal and below the standards set by most operating ethanol plants.

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Source: The Bradenton Herald (Bradenton, Fla.)

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