Hot News

9.28.04

By CAROL KINSLEY

CLAYTON, Del. — Ground was broken in Clayton, Del., on Sept. 20 for an $8.3 million biodiesel production facility, the first in the Mid-Atlantic region. Headed by Martin Ross, a Delaware soybean farmer, Mid-Atlantic Biodiesel Inc. expects the facility to be complete by next fall.
The 6-acre site is an abandoned railroad yard next to Southern States Cooperative. It will have rail access.
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, who has done much to promote soy biodiesel use in the state, welcomed the production facility, especially the jobs and economic growth it will bring to the community. “Biodiesel fuel provides important contributions to the quality of life we enjoy here in Delaware,” said Minner, a soybean grower herself.
She noted that soy biodiesel, as a replacement for petroleum diesel, is a clean-burning fuel from renewable resources that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and other pollution, improving the air we breathe. It also reduces the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.
Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Michael Scuse introduced Ross, saying the company president had “poured heart and soul into this project.”
Ross took the opportunity to thank many of the people who have helped him bring the facility to reality, particularly the members of his advisory team. De Smet, a Belgian company with American headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., is supplying the technology - the processing equipment, Ross said. Contractor for the building is Suitt, out of Raleigh, N.C. Bob Albert is the project manager.
The project wouldn’t have gotten past the feasibility stage without investors, Ross acknowledged. He wanted from the beginning to have farmer involvement if at all possible. The Hutchison Brothers of Cordova, Md., signed on. Non-farmers, but members of the community, Robert Tunnell and his son, Robert Tunnell Jr., invested. Filling a large gap and providing the farmer-owners Ross hoped for is the Cornerstone Farmers Cooperative, based in LaVerne, Minn. The group already has ownership of two ethanol plants and interest in a soybean processing plant.
Mid-Atlantic Biodiesel’s business manager and consultant is Geoffrey Soraef, born in Bombay, who comes to the company from the Los Angeles, Calif., area. Ross also thanked Sam Rothman, of Cross Country Capital, in Moasey, N.Y.; Pratt Insurance of Smyrna, and F & M Bank of York, Pa. The $5 million loan at F & M bank is being guaranteed by USDA Rural Development, which earlier helped fund the feasibility study and most recently approved a $500,000 federal energy efficient improvement grant to help with construction. The agency is committed to the future of rural communities, noted State Director Marlene Elliott, “and agriculture is Delaware’s No. 1 industry. Rural Development is delighted to support this project that will help preserve and promote agriculture for years to come.”
Ross added appreciation to Scuse, who found the site for the plant after other locations fell through, and to the Delaware Department of Agriculture, to Seth Powell of Tri-Gas and Oil, to the Delaware Soybean Board for its support, and to the governor, who can now mark another goal “Done.” He told Minner, “Without your commitment to this project, I don’t the believe the facility would be possible.”
John Becherer, CEO of the United Biodiesel Board, was on hand for the ceremony. “This is a really big event for the soybean industry,” he said. He noted that nationally, 31 percent of farmers use biodiesel on their farms. “One big thing about biodiesel usage,” he added, “is that our analyses show the value of soybeans increase with usage for fuel. The price of oil goes up, but the price of meal, used for livestock feed, goes down. So it’s a benefit to the animal agriculture, especially poultry. This plant can benefit everyone.”