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Earth Biofuels officials plan to reopen plant
By MATT SWEARENGIN
managing editor
DURANT — Officials with Earth Biofuels say that, although the plant has not produced any fuel since November 2007, they plan to have it back in operation, pending financing and retrofitting of equipment for a biodiesel fuel that is profitable to produce.
In August, the plant’s fire-suppression system quit working and emergency officials notified nearby businesses and residences of the danger.
The fire-suppression system was repaired in early September. The plant building is safe and poses no danger to the public, according to Randy Hepler, senior vice president of Earth Biofuels Inc., who has an office in Dallas.
On Aug. 4, Jimmy Stephens, who was then the plant manager, notified Durant Fire Marshal Lisa Jackson that the plant’s fire-suppression system had a leak and was temporarily out of service.
In an e-mail, Stephens said technicians would be on site the next morning and that he would keep Jackson informed of the situation.
“The day he sent me an e-mail, I presumed they were getting it fixed and everything was fine,” Jackson said. “I assumed they would keep me abreast, and the following week, he called and said it was still not fixed.”
The State Fire Marshal’s Office, Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were notified.
The EPA arrived Aug. 22 to restore the plant to a safe condition, according to Durant/Bryan County Emergency Management, and the fire-suppression system was repaired Sept. 8. There was a delay in repairing the system while waiting on arrival of the necessary parts, according to emergency and company officials.
That also delayed the clean-up process because of safety concerns and once the system was repaired, clean-up resumed. As of Sept. 22, all hazardous and combustible materials had been removed, according to a news release from Durant/Bryan County Emergency Management.
Hepler said the plant is currently non-operational due to repairs and retrofitting of the system to accept yellow grease and tallow for B100 production.
He said that Earth Biofuels has complied with the entire request made by the EPA and will continue to meet all state and federal safety requirements.
In an e-mail to the Democrat, Hepler said that although the foam fire-suppression system was down, they did have backup systems in place that would engage in case of a fire.
“The water sprinkler fire system was still functional,” he said. “Also, inside the methanol room we have a system called an inergen gas system. This system is triggered in case of a fire in the methanol room and basically removes all of the oxygen in the room, making it impossible for fire to be produced. We also have redundant fire detection systems in place that would alarm the fire department if any trace of fire or dangerous situation would occur.”
Bill Rhotenberry, on-scene coordinator for EPA Region Six, said in a press release that parts of the plant had been damaged by corrosive chemicals left suspended in various stages of production since November 2007. He said extensive repairs would have to be made before the plant could be operational again.
Hepler denied that the plant was damaged.
He said the plant has been capable of producing biodiesel for more than a year, but because of the high cost of feedstock, it was not profitable for them to do so.
“Nothing in the plant was damaged due to corrosive chemicals being suspended in the plant,” Hepler said. “Some pump seals may need to be replaced when production begins again but that is part of normal wear and tear.”
Durant/Bryan County Emergency Management, the agency that handled public information about the situation, declined additional comments, other than standing by the accuracy of the information in their press releases.
The plant had previously produced approximately 300,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel, according to Hepler. Currently, the only employees at the plant are four security guards who provide security 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
At one time, the plant employed as many as 15 people who were laid off at various times throughout the last year due to restructuring of plant operations, according to Hepler.
“Earth Biofuels is currently in the process of refinancing the plant to retrofit it for processing yellow grease and tallow, which is much cheaper than the traditional refined soybean oil that we have used in the past,” Hepler said. “Once financing is in place, which we expect to be in the next 30-45 days, it will take approximately six months to finish the upgrades. “
Earth Biofuels opened in Durant in 2006. The city received a $100,000 grant, plus a $400,000 loan with zero interest from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce to improve a section of East Main Street and a rail spur to accommodate the company.
Tommy Kramer, executive director of the Durant Industrial Authority, said that all of the $100,000 grant could have gone toward the railroad spur, but Earth Biofuels agreed to allow half of it to be used for the widening of Main Street at the plant.
“Part of the ($400,000) loan was for the rail spur,” Kramer said. “Earth Biofuels agreed, and they didn’t have to, to pay the loan on the railroad spur.”
According to city records, the company’s portion of the loan is $315,000 and they have been making monthly payments of $1,312.50. As of early this month, $27,621.57 has been paid by Earth Biofuels.
“What’s good about the project for the city is that we got an old, dangerous feed mill torn down and cleaned up and a new street put in,” Kramer said.
Hepler is confident the plant will resume production.
“With favorable economics returning for the production of biodiesel, the future of the Durant plant is promising and we expect successful production of a domestically produced, clean, alternative fuel,” Hepler said.
In August, the plant’s fire-suppression system quit working and emergency officials notified nearby businesses and residences of the danger.
The fire-suppression system was repaired in early September. The plant building is safe and poses no danger to the public, according to Randy Hepler, senior vice president of Earth Biofuels Inc., who has an office in Dallas.
On Aug. 4, Jimmy Stephens, who was then the plant manager, notified Durant Fire Marshal Lisa Jackson that the plant’s fire-suppression system had a leak and was temporarily out of service.
In an e-mail, Stephens said technicians would be on site the next morning and that he would keep Jackson informed of the situation.
“The day he sent me an e-mail, I presumed they were getting it fixed and everything was fine,” Jackson said. “I assumed they would keep me abreast, and the following week, he called and said it was still not fixed.”
The State Fire Marshal’s Office, Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were notified.
The EPA arrived Aug. 22 to restore the plant to a safe condition, according to Durant/Bryan County Emergency Management, and the fire-suppression system was repaired Sept. 8. There was a delay in repairing the system while waiting on arrival of the necessary parts, according to emergency and company officials.
That also delayed the clean-up process because of safety concerns and once the system was repaired, clean-up resumed. As of Sept. 22, all hazardous and combustible materials had been removed, according to a news release from Durant/Bryan County Emergency Management.
Hepler said the plant is currently non-operational due to repairs and retrofitting of the system to accept yellow grease and tallow for B100 production.
He said that Earth Biofuels has complied with the entire request made by the EPA and will continue to meet all state and federal safety requirements.
In an e-mail to the Democrat, Hepler said that although the foam fire-suppression system was down, they did have backup systems in place that would engage in case of a fire.
“The water sprinkler fire system was still functional,” he said. “Also, inside the methanol room we have a system called an inergen gas system. This system is triggered in case of a fire in the methanol room and basically removes all of the oxygen in the room, making it impossible for fire to be produced. We also have redundant fire detection systems in place that would alarm the fire department if any trace of fire or dangerous situation would occur.”
Bill Rhotenberry, on-scene coordinator for EPA Region Six, said in a press release that parts of the plant had been damaged by corrosive chemicals left suspended in various stages of production since November 2007. He said extensive repairs would have to be made before the plant could be operational again.
Hepler denied that the plant was damaged.
He said the plant has been capable of producing biodiesel for more than a year, but because of the high cost of feedstock, it was not profitable for them to do so.
“Nothing in the plant was damaged due to corrosive chemicals being suspended in the plant,” Hepler said. “Some pump seals may need to be replaced when production begins again but that is part of normal wear and tear.”
Durant/Bryan County Emergency Management, the agency that handled public information about the situation, declined additional comments, other than standing by the accuracy of the information in their press releases.
The plant had previously produced approximately 300,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel, according to Hepler. Currently, the only employees at the plant are four security guards who provide security 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
At one time, the plant employed as many as 15 people who were laid off at various times throughout the last year due to restructuring of plant operations, according to Hepler.
“Earth Biofuels is currently in the process of refinancing the plant to retrofit it for processing yellow grease and tallow, which is much cheaper than the traditional refined soybean oil that we have used in the past,” Hepler said. “Once financing is in place, which we expect to be in the next 30-45 days, it will take approximately six months to finish the upgrades. “
Earth Biofuels opened in Durant in 2006. The city received a $100,000 grant, plus a $400,000 loan with zero interest from the Oklahoma Department of Commerce to improve a section of East Main Street and a rail spur to accommodate the company.
Tommy Kramer, executive director of the Durant Industrial Authority, said that all of the $100,000 grant could have gone toward the railroad spur, but Earth Biofuels agreed to allow half of it to be used for the widening of Main Street at the plant.
“Part of the ($400,000) loan was for the rail spur,” Kramer said. “Earth Biofuels agreed, and they didn’t have to, to pay the loan on the railroad spur.”
According to city records, the company’s portion of the loan is $315,000 and they have been making monthly payments of $1,312.50. As of early this month, $27,621.57 has been paid by Earth Biofuels.
“What’s good about the project for the city is that we got an old, dangerous feed mill torn down and cleaned up and a new street put in,” Kramer said.
Hepler is confident the plant will resume production.
“With favorable economics returning for the production of biodiesel, the future of the Durant plant is promising and we expect successful production of a domestically produced, clean, alternative fuel,” Hepler said.
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Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of durantdemocrat.com.
Fools Gold wrote on Oct 13, 2008 5:04 PM:
" As long as it costs more to make a gallon of biofuel than it saves, particularly with the world food shortage, it's foolish to believe that biofuels out of corn is actually viable. There are other alternative fuel methods that can implemented into our system, and not just because Willie says so. "
humble wrote on Oct 14, 2008 5:06 PM:
" The prospect of Earth getting any financing in this climate is bleak at best. Especially with their reputation. That said, even though the City will probably end up paying most of the loan, the publicity gained for Durant over the last couple of years would have cost millions. Besides, like Tommy said, the area needed improving anyway. It's just a shame we can't get an honest company with a prayer of being profitable in that location. Hopefully no expects our industry board to bat a thousand. "
b cole wrote on Oct 14, 2008 7:39 PM:
" Algae: Is renewable, does not affect the food channel and eats co2. You may want to check out:
www.nationalalgaeassociation.com "
www.nationalalgaeassociation.com "
creditcrunched wrote on Oct 16, 2008 3:14 PM:
" no one expects our industry board to bat a thousand. we do however expect honest evaluations of previous economic development decisions, so similar mistakes won't be repeated. earth biofuels will NEVER be back at that location. read their financials on the web and it is easy to see they don't have the borrowing capacity without the tax incentives to survive. "wish in one hand and poop in the other and see which one fills up first." "
Bad Concept wrote on Oct 18, 2008 11:01 AM:
" The American public has been fed a lot of bunk on the bio-fuel concept. Currently there is a stock pile of grain that would potentially rot in silo's and never be consumed as food. So bio-fuels look appealing. In the long term "GREED" and alledged "fossil fuel shortages" will cause the market to flip flop where farmer can get more dollars from the fuel manufactures than from the food industry and "yes" will will then officially be in a crisis over food shortages. Ask the public library if they have a copy of a movie titled "Who killed the Electric Car?" Very interesting thoughts on how the oil industry want to keep you (the people) dependent on fossil fuels. GM invested a lot of time and dollars into all electric (zero emmission) vehicle and had them on the orad until someone convinced them that wasn't the way to go. Now GM is in deep deep trouble shutting down plants and laying off employees. There was something on the news last week where GM might be selling the business off to Chrysler Corp (actually the holding company that currently own Chrysler division.) Hydrogen technology is another good proposition. There are test vehicles on the road today "
Troy wrote on Oct 21, 2008 10:23 AM:
" All I know is that I have lost a lot of money in this company and all I can do is hold on and hope for the best. HOPE is the key word. A loan in this eco.right now is going to be difficult about if they pul lit off many car companies and bring clean diesel cars to the USA in 2009. VW, Benz, and BMW to name a few. Better mpg's and cleaner tech. Lets just HOPE. "
