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Sunday, November 06, 2005

Environment- PCBs; ethanol study; ethanol plant

PCBs. The Indianapolis Star reports today:

Bloomington -- Workers cleaning up PCB-tainted sediment at the former site of a Westinghouse plant have found a previously unknown site contaminated with the harmful chemical -- a discovery that worries nearby residents.

The site was found by workers for Viacom Corp., the corporate owner of what used to be Westinghouse Electric Corp. Viacom is working to clean up PCBs left from Westinghouse's decades of production of electrical capacitors at a now-shuttered plant.

Viacom's testing at the site has revealed PBC levels of up to 180 parts per million, many times more than the 5 parts per million or less that is considered safe, said Dottie Alke, Viacom's vice president of environmental projects.

Alke estimates that, at most, the sludge site covers a couple thousand square feet, but she and Tom Alcamo, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's local manager for PCB cleanups, said its exact size has not been determined.

Alcamo said the site -- an abandoned lot southwest of Bloomington -- appears to have been a sludge-dumping site, because no electrical capacitors or related equipment have been found.

Ethanol report. An AP story today reports:
A study of Indiana's agriculture industry concludes that it is well-positioned to become a leader in the production of biofuels, particularly corn-based ethanol.

The study by the State Department of Agriculture [ISDA] found that Indiana has enough corn to support additional ethanol production at a time when there is growing demand for the corn-based fuel additive, which is made from distilled grain mash.

The report does not appear to be online at the state site; rather, a news release on the ISDA site directs you to the site, where all that is available is the news release.

Ethanol plant. "Wells asked to guarantee $50 million for fuel plant" is the headline to a story today in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. The story begins:

Wells County business leaders want to build a $134 million ethanol plant on the western edge of Bluffton, a project that they say is timely and necessary.

But to pull it off, they are asking the citizens of Wells County to guarantee $50 million worth of revenue bonds, necessary to the plant’s construction – putting the county on the hook for the money if the project were to fail.

The project is the brainchild of Indiana Bio-Energy LLC, a group of local investors that includes Wells County Commissioner Randy Plummer, and Garry Jones, the chief executive officer of the Wells County Chamber of Commerce and husband of county Auditor Connie Prible. One of Prible’s sons is also listed as an investor.

The matter has not yet come before the County Council for a vote, but developers plan to bring it up within the next month to take advantage of guaranteed construction costs.

A similar story appear 10/10/05 in the Decatur Daily Democrat.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 6, 2005 10:05 AM
Posted to Environment | Indiana economic development