Port OK's biodiesel facility for Burbank
Gen-X plans to produce about 5 million gallons of biodiesel fuel per year.
By Vicki Hillhouse of the Union-Bulletin
A grassroots group plans to take its biodiesel processing operation from a home-based garage to the Port of Walla Walla's Burbank Industrial Park.
Gen-X Energy Group of the Tri-Cities plans to operate a small-scale biodiesel plant in a vacant building at the park, located on the confluence of the Snake and Columbia rivers.
Port of Walla Walla Commission Chairman Paul Schneidmiller and Commissioner Fred Bennett unanimously authorized a lease agreement with Gen-X on Thursday. Commissioner Michael Fredrickson was absent from the meeting.
Gen-X Chief Executive Officer Brian Moreno could not be reached for comment this morning.
Paul Gerola, the Port's economic development director, told commissioners Gen-X plans to produce about 5 million gallons of biodiesel fuel per year. The company will reportedly use animal fats, including tallow, from local food processors as its feedstock.
The majority of the alternative fuel will likely be sold to blenders who would mix the biodiesel with regular fuel and sell it to consumers in the Mid-Columbia and Walla Walla valleys.
Gerola said the company, which has received its environmental and other related permits, will likely be operational by Feb. 1, 2007.
Gen-X reportedly has been in existence for three years. Officials with the company first approached the Port a year ago and has been working on getting
permits in that time.
Biodiesel is a growing alternative to diesel fuel. It has similar properties to petroleum diesel, but is produced domestically, and is nontoxic, biodegradable and said to burn cleaner.
According to a copy of the lease agreement, the Port of Walla Walla will lease its 18,000-square-foot flathouse for a term of five years and four months, starting Dec. 1. Gen-X will have a renewal option for one five-year period.
From Dec. 1 to March 30, 2007, cost of the lease will be $1,800 per month plus state lease hold tax. The lease rate will climb to $3,600 per month plus state leasehold tax in April. Every April after that, it will increase 3 percent.
Methanol that is also produced at the plant will reportedly be stored in tanks outside the building, Port officials say. As a term of the lease agreement, Gen-X must have adequate comprehensive pollution liability and property insurance.
The location for Gen-X is near where a second biodiesel plant is slated in Burbank. Port officials say a large-scale biodiesel plant that would produce 200,000 tons, or 63 million gallons, of biodiesel annually is still in the works.
Chemical Consortium Holdings Inc., of Bellingham, Wash., still plans to open its NorthWestBioFuels plant on Port property, Port officials say. The company is working to secure financing for the $75 million project.
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