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Posted on  

September 25, 2002

Ethanol plant proposed near McCook Nebraska

The McCook Economic Development Corp. is laying the groundwork for a proposed ethanol plant six miles west of McCook.

Area residents met with developers and engineers on Monday to discuss concerns over the proposed plant.

Board president Greg Wolford said most of the concerns involved the environmental impact of the plant.

He said the group was assured the developer uses state of the art equipment to limit the amount of discharge and emissions from the plant.

“There were a lot of good questions, from the meeting,” said Wolford. “Overall, it was a very positive meeting. It seems area land owners are looking at the project with guarded optimism.”

A committee of five members of MEDC has been working for the past six months with Al Voudrie, President of Southwest Biofuels, LLC of Elk River, Minn., to locate the 20 million gallon ethanol plant near Perry.

Greg Wolford commended committee members Van Korell, Claude Cappel, Ron Friehe, Mark Friehe and Chris Overman on the hours of work the committee has put in to implement the plan.

The plant would need to be in operation and have produced 100,000 gallons of ethanol before June 30, 2004, in order to meet incentive requirements of LB536.

“This means we will need to work quickly as a community to bring this about,” said Kay Lavene, executive director of MEDC.

Normal construction on an ethanol plant can take 12-14 months during good weather, Lavene explained, stressing the need to move quickly. “We will need to get a number of permits from the state, (which can take up to nine months) as well as local permits, easements and zoning changes, before we can start the building process.”

The 20 million gallon plant will use approximately 7 million bushels of corn annually. Milo will also be used at the plant. The grain is expected to be trucked to the facility. The finished ethanol product will be either trucked or shipped by rail.

Distillers grain, which is a byproduct of the process, will be sold for animal feed for cattle, chickens and other animals. Locally it will be sold wet. When shipped to destinations outside the area, the distillers grain will be dried at the plant before shipment.

“I have asked the Nebraska Public Power District to run an economic impact study for Red Willow County as a result of this project. Not only will this be a benefit to the corn and milo growers in a 70-mile radius of the plan, there will be a number of spin-off businesses created as well. The money that will stay in Southwest Nebraska will be in the millions,” Lavene said.

Plans for the new ethanol plant include doubling the capacity of facility within three to five years. The initial plant design will accommodate the expansion. The natural gas and power to be brought to the site will also accommodate any expansion plans.

“Value-added agriculture is one of the single best things we can do to boost the economy of Red Willow County,” said Wolford.

Initially the plant will employee 30- 35 employees.

“I think this is a tremendous opportunity for our area,” said Mark Graff, President of McCook National Bank and a member of MEDC.

“It will allow us to establish a new market for our grains and it brings outside investors into the area,” he said.


 

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