Biodiesel plant finds new location

PULLMAN - AgTech OS announced a new location and plan for the proposed biodiesel plant in a press conference Thursday, June 29.

AgTech OS CEO Ernest Spicer stated that the plant's new location would be on the Moscow-Pullman Highway at the former Hawkins Development property between Airport Road and the state line near Moscow.

In the meeting, Spicer explained plans moving forward and earlier concerns they'd addressed.

Spicer stated that previous community concerns started with the location in Pullman removing residential opportunities for the area.

"We wanted to start expanding our reach and see where we were going to go, and a lot of the people in the area said look at Airport Road," he said, noting that is what they did by looking at the location off of Airport Road and 270.

Spicer then addressed another problem presented by water usage and conservation.

He explained that at its total capacity, their plant only uses around 10,000 gallons a day of water, the equivalent of fewer than fifty homes. He noted that the plant will not reach its total capacity until about 2028.

The plant will mitigate the process by having an onsite pond to keep and recycle water.

He noted that the county's only water usage issue moving forward was keeping the wetlands protected and ensuring the aquifers were protected so that runoff would not happen.

Spicer stated that they began looking at their construction plan, noting that there are no wetlands on the property, and they've started a construction design so that all runoffs will come down into their onsite retention pond.

The odor was another concern for community members, Spicer noted, explaining that the odor people hear about with biodiesel plants typically comes from recycling waste or trying to incorporate fossil fuel oils.

"Our plant is going to be nothing, but 100 percent virgin oil, so that means we're going to be upheld to food service production," he said, adding that they're not going to bring in anything that can have smells that burn off and cause any of the mentioned problems.

Spicer stated that they'd only have run into one new problem after addressing their neighbors moving into the process, which was light pollution, especially in the area because farmer neighbors had issues with other companies coming in not having appropriate lighting.

After conversations with neighbors, Spicer stated that they had great conversations and ended up with their support.

"Another issue was taking county funds and having a local government organization involved," he said.

On Tuesday, March 21, AgTech OS announced they were no longer working with the Port of Whitman County at the former Industrial Research Park location.

Spicer stated that they have avoided taking a CERB loan and have not gotten involved with any local government funding but are going forward with the process privately. He added that they will be working directly with the community moving forward.