Osage Bio Energy first proposed building a 55-million-gallon facility on the Exeter site in June. The site, which has been locked in litigation since early 2006, is at the south end of Main Street.
The constant questions have focused on the effects — both positive and negative — the plant would have on the city, especially considering the site’s close proximity to downtown.
Those who believe that ethanol is a newer, cleaner fuel source than crude oil have touted the positives. Those against ethanol and a local plant say the negatives — such as smells, increased traffic and additional noise — outweigh any benefits.
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“We’re built far enough out of town where it’s not really an issue,” said Narum, the plant’s office manager. “If you build next to town it will be an issue.”
Narum said his plant also brings the vast majority of its products in via trucks — roughly 50 to 60 per day. He said the plant does receive calls and complaints due to the increased traffic.
Control of supply and demand would be one of ethanol’s primary advantages. The plant would convert barley and other winter grains grown in Virginia, along with corn. Most plants use only corn.
“The supply is much more reliable, said Vic Fisher, scientific projects developer at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. “The oil that we burn, probably a third to half of that is coming from overseas from places that don’t like us. If you’re growing the barley here, making it into fuel here and burning it here, you’ve got a substantial advantage in your supply and distribution.”
A plant in the city will bring jobs and recognition to the community, Fisher said.
“It creates local jobs and economic benefits,” he said. “Rather than your money going to Saudi Arabia, your money stays here and creates jobs. [It is] economic development in a way that’s stable.”
Initial calculations of the potential taxes say the Osage plant would pay the city approximately $2.2 million per year, as well as adding 50 full-time jobs.
Kaufman and Canoles Consulting prepared a report in July that was recently released on the behalf of the city, which ranked the plant as fourth of four possible uses for the Exeter site. A commerce park, mixed-use development or retail and office space would be better-suited development, according to the report.
“I don’t know if there is a better use, but we have a contract on the property,” Osage President Craig Shealy said. “We’re here, we’ve got the plan and we’ve got the capital.”
Each of the other three options would create between 1,400 and 2,600 new jobs, Hopewell Mayor Steve Taylor said. “Any of the other three options would create far more job opportunities in Hopewell and help drive our downtown-redevelopment plans,” Taylor wrote in a letter outlining his opposition to the plant at the Exeter site.
Taylor contends that ethanol market is declining and that a study by the city of Portsmouth — which recently rejected an ethanol plant — shows that nearby property values could decline anywhere from 8 percent to 46 percent.
Taylor said the Exeter site is better suited for other development. He wrote that if a plant is built at the Exeter site then, “We will move nowhere in our efforts to revitalize our downtown. We will move nowhere in our attempts to bring more value to the neighborhoods in most of our city. In the process, we will also miss opportunities to get Fort Lee expansion-related business in Hopewell.”
The report states that, due to certain characteristics of ethanol plants, the fiscal impact was not included, although multiple plants were researched.
Supporters of the plant say the Osage ethanol plant will put Hopewell on the forefront of a developing industry that will help protect the environment while creating jobs. “We believe as a company that you can be environmentally friendly and economically smart,” Shealy said.
City Councilwoman Christina Luman-Bailey, who supports the plant, said the Exeter site is a prime industrial space and the plant will put Hopewell in front of a new industry.
“Hopewell should seize the opportunity,” she said during a rally in October, “the opportunity to become a leader in the renewable fuel industry.
“It’s definitely a win-win [situation] all around,” Bailey said. “It will not only benefit Hopewell, but Virginia and Virginia farmers.”
But while the plant is friendly to the environment in the sense it lessens the nation’s reliance on oil, what about the plant’s impact on the immediate environment. Or, to put it more bluntly, will the plant smell?
The report said: “Under current production methods, there is a significant odor that permeates the neighborhoods surrounding the plant.”
Matt Hartwhig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association, said the smells are similar to those of baking bread, due to the fermentation. “When you’re adding the yeast and such, that’s where the smell of baking bread comes into play,” Hartwhig said. “It’ll be kind of similar to a brewery.”
Another issue the report addressed was water usage, saying it will take between 1.5 and 4 gallons of water to create 1 gallon of ethanol. That water would come from Virginia American Water, which draws from the convergence of the James and Appomattox rivers. In other words, in order to create 55 million gallons of ethanol, the plant would require 82.5 to 220 millions of gallons of water.
“What they have permitted for, we’re a drop in the bucket,” Shealy said. “It’s one of the reasons we’re so insistent on Hopewell, on that site.”
Another Osage employee spoke in support of the plant.
“Virginia American Water Company has a large stream,” said Timothy Richter, director of engineering and site development for Osage. “They have capacity into that potable stream. We’re taking [water] from a municipal water source.”
Many residents said at previous public hearings that seeing new plants come up from a revitalized part of the city would not be pleasant. The close proximity to downtown, which has been in the midst of multiple smaller projects, is another criticism. Also near the Exeter site are the new headquarters of the Appomattox Regional Library and the multimillion-dollar renovation of the Beacon Theatre.
Shealy said Osage does not think the plant will be offensive to those walking around downtown.
“We don’t think it’s going to be an eyesore,” he said. He said there will be a 150-foot vegetative buffer, and the plant’s administration building may be the first thing people see from downtown streets.
For those interested in sharing their opinions on the possibility of the ethanol plant coming to Hopewell, the City Council will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. tomorrow in the Municipal Building.
• Lindsay Simpson may be reached at 732-3456, ext. 272 or lsimpson@progress-index.com.
