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Saturday, November 12, 2005

Environment - Ethanol; Pines transfer station

Updating two of the items from this entry yesterday:

Ethanol. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has two editorials today on (to quote from their story yesterday) "Wells County Council members are still waiting for key information before they decide whether to guarantee more than $50 million in bonds for a proposed ethanol plant." From the first editorial:

A proposed ethanol plant in Wells County could be a solid bet. But it’s nonetheless a bet, and the public does not yet have enough information for county officials to take the risk. * * *

Indiana Bio-Energy LLC wants to build a $134 million ethanol plant on 400 acres on the western edge of Bluffton. And the company wants Wells County taxpayers to help it secure at least $50 million in loans to pay for the plant. Indiana Bio-Energy plans to pay for the construction by soliciting $34 million from private investors, seeking a bank loan for $50 million and asking the county to guarantee another $50 million in bonds. * * *

Residents and some County Council members are concerned because if the county backs the plan it would severely limit the county’s ability to make any other investments. “For a county that is the size of Wells, it could be an awfully big pill for the county to swallow if, God forbid, it failed,” said Council President Pete Cole. The county would be responsible for paying back about up to $4.5 million dollars a year. Cole says that’s a big chunk when you consider the county only gets $5 million in property tax revenue each year.

Having the county’s credit tied up with the ethanol plant could also hurt the county’s ability to get good interest rates when officials seek loans for county business, such as needed improvements to the county jail. * * *

The ethanol plant could be a good investment for Wells County. But the decision to back such a huge loan should only be granted if the company can give the community adequate assurances. The council should only approve the loan after complete disclosure and plenty of public input.

The second editorial talks about conflicts of interest:
Two key Wells County government officials’ financial investment in the company that proposes to build an ethanol plant using county-backed financing is untenable. They should choose whether they want to be investors or officials, but they shouldn’t do both. * * *

As public servants, these county officials need to hold themselves to the highest standard of ethics. While there might not be anything legally wrong with their involvement in the project, it casts doubt on the project. Given that the company is asking that Wells County government back a $50 million loan for the plant, Plummer and Prible should either dispense of their investment or step down from office.

Pines transfer station. The story in the Gary Post-Tribune begins:
Add Beverly Shores to the list of opponents to a waste transfer station that state officials approved on Wednesday.

The town council will meet at 1:30 p.m. today at the town’s administration building to address the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s issuance of a construction permit for the Great Lakes Transfer Station.

The transfer station would be at 5535 N. County Line Road on the Porter-LaPorte county border and is expected to handle several hundred tons of trash a day.

“It’s directly over Kintzele Ditch and we’re a mile-and-a half from it,” said Association of Beverly Shores Residents environmental action committee member Dan Dresner.

Dresner said the association called the meeting after its residents discovered how close the transfer station would be to their homes. “Until a few weeks ago we didn’t put two-and-two together,” he said.

Dresner said residents in Beverly Shores are concerned about possible contamination from the municipal trash that will be brought into the station. “We just went on city water, but some are still on wells,” he said. Dresner said the east-west current runs year-round along the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Since Kintzele Ditch runs into Lake Michigan, residents are concerned possible contamination could affect Beverly Shores’ three miles of beaches, which are also part of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, as well as nearby wetlands.

[Update 11/13/05] Here is a similar story from the Munster (NW Indiana) Times, indicating that the Town of Beverly Shores will join the suit.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 12, 2005 10:50 AM
Posted to Environment | Indiana economic development