Biodiesel plant developers buy property

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

By Deborah Gertz Husar

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Developers of a planned biodiesel plant in the South Quincy bottoms say they stand out from the crowded field in renewable fuels.

"There's plenty of room for a lot of different players, but we feel we're a little bit unique," said Jeff Ewing, president and owner of Ewing Land Development Services. "We have the resources to move quickly. Everything is in place for the start of construction on May 1."

At a Tuesday news conference, Ewing announced the purchase of 172 acres known as the Neuman Property on Radio Road, next to the Archer Daniels Midland oilseed crushing facility and near the Mississippi River.

Phase one of the master plan for the site calls for a 30 million-gallon, $50 million biodiesel plant that will create between 30 and 40 jobs. Construction is expected to take 12 months.

"The funding is pretty much in place. The seedstock is in place. The land has been purchased. The equipment is on order. The contract with the local contractor is under negotiation. We anticipate signing that in the next 30 days," Ewing said.

An expansion project to double the plant's size is scheduled to take place in two to five years, and Ewing said the group has "master planned it to accommodate other uses in the alternative fuels industry." He said the site is designed to potentially house an ethanol plant.

The proposed plant is the company's first venture into biodiesel, traditionally made from soybean oil. Ewing said equipment selected to be used will be adaptable to other feedstocks, but the primary source will be soybean oil.

Pella, Iowa-based Ewing Land Development Services has focused on senior housing and commercial projects in the past.

Available transportation and raw product, development incentives in the South Quincy Bottoms and a port under development by the Mid-America Intermodal Port District drew Ewing to consider Quincy.

"A new port adjacent to our facility is another dimension to product coming into our facility or especially going out," Ewing said.

"We think we've got the best site in the nation. We come from a fourth generation farm background and still own a large agricultural operation in Iowa. We're very familiar with the ag industry. We understand the need for biofuels is rising and very important for today's economy."

Contact Staff Writer Deborah Gertz Husar at dhusar@whig.com or (217) 221-3379