There have been several changes from the earlier proposal for the
ethanol plant:
|
Initially: |
Changed to: |
|
50 million gallons |
110 million gallons ethanol production |
|
18,000 bushels |
36,000 bushels corn |
|
39 full-time |
45 full-time jobs |
|
Coal-fired |
Natural gas |
It was noted that the companies providing engineering design and
construction of the dry mill ethanol plant, ICM and Fagen, have
built the majority of ethanol plants that are operating in the
Midwest, have a strong history, and the plants are known to have few
problems.
The plant would be designed to use natural gas to process corn
into ethanol and would produce a mash that would be dehydrated to
produce a solid byproduct of distillers grain, usable as quality
animal feed.
Illinois EPA permit analyst Minesh Patel, who has been with the
IEPA 12 years and has been handling ethanol permits for six months,
reviewed the plant construction, equipment and processes that would
transform corn into ethanol and animal feed.
The plant design has equipment in place to contain and control
fine particles and vapors created during grain handling,
fermentation, distillation, feed drying and cooling processes, and
during the storage and transfer of ethanol.
Patel said that the design and equipment would allow emissions in
all stages of the processes at the plant to be well within state and
federal air pollution control requirements. The permit includes
initial and continued monitoring of emissions.
Volatile organic materials created during the fermentation
process in the fermenters and in the beer well would be vented to a
fermentation scrubber.
Volatile organic material emissions created during the ethanol
distillation process are vented to a regenerative thermal oxidizer.
Once the mash has been separated from the ethanol, it goes
through a drying process to create animal feed. Patel said that the
design uses a two-dryer system with a regenerative thermal oxidizer
to control emissions of particulate matter, volatile organic
materials and hazardous air pollutants. Some of the particulate
matter emissions controlled by a baghouse are sent to oxidizers to
use as combustion air.
The scrubber is twice the size of competitors' scrubbers and
provides lower emissions.
Other cleanup and prevention controls include street sweepers,
flared (controlled burn) vapors with ethanol transfer, and a leak
detection and repair program.
[to top of second column]
 |
 While air-quality control was the subject of the permit, Patel
also addressed water control practices that the plant would employ.
The major portion of water used at the plant would be the contact
water. It would go through a
bio-methanator
and be reprocessed and regenerated.
The plant would have a little non-contact water that would be
discharged.
The floor was opened to public comments
Sarah Wilcox, Illini Bio-Energy vice president of project
development, addressed the audience. She wanted to clarify that
despite recent news reports, the company is still in a quiet period
and they have not begun their equity drive.
She provided history of how the company formed and began
exploring building an ethanol plant in 2001. The company organized
as an Illinois cooperative association in 2004 and converted to an
Illinois limited liability company named Illini Bio-Energy LLC in
2005. Their emphasis has been to provide an opportunity for local
farmers to invest in a value-added project, she said.
A dozen or so different people came forward to make comments.
Nearly all the speakers had an affiliation with farming. They were
from locations near Hartsburg, Emden, Elkhart, Lincoln and from as
far as Champaign. They were farmers; representatives of farming
associations: Hartsburg FFA, Logan County Farm Bureau, Illinois Corn
Growers Association; a Hartsburg School Board member; farm industry
representatives from Hartsburg Grain Elevator and Central Illinois
Agriculture; and representation from the Lincoln and Logan County
Development Partnership.
Their messages were nearly alike in that they were all in total
support of the plant being built near Hartsburg. The plant would be
good for farmers and the local economy, including Hartsburg, Logan
County and Illinois.
Brian Sharp of the Illinois Farmers Union wished to make
distinction between wet mill and dry mill plants. He said that the
proposed plant differs from ones like in Decatur, in that this is a
dry mill plant and it would have less odor and also produces a
higher quality animal feed.
There were no environmental concerns expressed, nor were there
any objections raised.
The public comment period closes Dec. 15. Anyone wishing to still
make comment can do so in writing and send it to:
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Hearing officer for Illini Bio-Energy comments
1021 N. Grand Ave. East
P.O. Box 19276
Springfield, Il 62794
Comments must be postmarked by midnight Dec. 15.
[Jan
Youngquist]
From the LDN
archives
 |
