Proposed Central Valley ethanol plant to get hearing Tuesday

BAKERSFIELD
March 24, 2008 12:01am

Kern County supervisors may vote Tuesday afternoon on proposed zoning changes that could clear the way for construction of a 55 million gallon per year ethanol plant near Highway 99 at Famoso, east of Wasco.

The plant is proposed by Cilion Inc., which is in the final construction stages of an ethanol plant about 180 miles to the north in the small community of Keyes, south of Modesto.

The plant would use corn to make the ethanol, which would be blended into gasoline. The waste product, called wet distiller grains and syrup, would be sold to dairy farms as a feed supplement for their herds.

The corn would come via train from growers in the Midwest. The plant, which would operate around the clock, would employ about 30 workers when in full operation. Finished products would be shipped by truck.

Building the plant is estimated to take 11 months and could employ as many as 200 construction workers at the peak of construction.

The negatives against the plant include air pollution, said to be “significant” in a Kern County Planning Department staff report to the board. Also noted is the “rising price of corn in the last 24 months impacts the economic viability of the facility.”