GCEDCers hear from Washington Biodiesel pres
Company eyed county for location, rail, attitude
MOSES LAKE ‹ The biodiesel industry is still in its adolescence, but Washington Biodiesel is hoping to help see it into adulthood here in Grant County.
Company president Daniel Malarkey spoke before the Grant County Economic Development Council's quarterly membership meeting Friday afternoon at Big Bend Community College's ATEC Building.
Malarkey's presentation included the reasons Washington Biodiesel plans to build a canola seed crushing facility to produce biodiesel in Warden. The company plans to complete the permitting and financing process this summer and break ground for the facility in Warden in the fall, beginning production in the fall of 2007 and possibly induce area farmers into planting winter canola at the same time.
The company chose Warden and the Grant County area because it is close to future canola sources and markets, Malarkey informed the audience. He also cited the area's good labor supply, rail access, low electrical power and what Malarkey termed a
"can-do" attitude.
"That is an attitude coming from the other side of the mountains that we find hugely refreshing," he said in thanks to the audience.
Malarkey said benefits to growing canola and using canola seeds to produce biodiesel include addressing the carbon dioxide emissions problems raised by petroleum fuels and their contributions to global warning, the ability to grow the crop in dryland and deficit irrigation and side products like canola meal and glycerin, which the company hopes to produce in a very pure, pharmaceutical-grade.
One possible negative to using canola Malarkey mentioned is the possibility of brassica crops, including canola, sometimes causing problems with seed crops or cross-pollination with other crop species. A canola commission has been established to monitor the issue and ensure that appropriate notice is given so that doesn't happen, Malarkey said.
"That really is the only issue that we know of that has to be attended to with growing canola," he said.
Malarkey answered a number of questions from the audience, including possible business offshoots of Washington Biodiesel's arrival in the county and concerns about the safety of the air quality of the plant.
Regarding support businesses, Malarkey said that once the plant is up and running, there would be an opportunity for more chemical testing, noting that one of the challenges for the biodiesel industry at present is having good laboratories. The Washington Biodiesel plant will have its own laboratory staff to be testing its meal, oils and biodiesel to guarantee fuel quality, but other laboratory opportunities may become available over time.
Regarding air safety and following news that Air Energy had been warned by the state's Department of Ecology about operating its Creston plant without a permit and was in violation of air quality regulations, Malarkey said the Warden plant would be fully permitted with an entirely self-contained and continuous process.
"This is a big industrial chemical plant," he said. "The materials we are using are benign by all standards, but we have methanol … which you have to be careful with, treat it with respect and the appropriate industrial safeguards."
Prior to Malarkey's presentation, GCEDC executive director Terry Brewer provided updates on other projects the council has been working on, including construction in Quincy for Columbia Colstor's new warehouse and Microsoft's data center, Specialty Chemical's building permit in Moses Lake, promising developments from Moses Lake Ethanol, Guardian Industries and the pending May announcement of the REC Silicon expansion.
Brewer added that two companies the council worked on in 2005 are from outside the state, but now own property near the airport, including Westmoreland Mechanical Testing and Research and a company he could only call by its code name, "Auger."
Regarding a Yahoo! Inc. data center in Quincy, Brewer said the council is working with Grant County Public Utility District on the project.
"We are working I think past all the hard issues," he said. "Everything that I'm getting from feedback seems very positive from Yahoo! and I think it won't be too long until we'll learn that they've made a commitment and purchased land in Quincy also for a large data center project."
Another company the council began talking with in May 2005 about a data center project is still interested in doing something in Grant County, Brewer said. Another made a site visit earlier this month.
"If you're in construction, you'll probably get lots of calls because there's going to be a great deal of construction in our community this year," Brewer said.