Ethanol refinery is still young, but viable

HONESDALE — The Wayne-Pike County Farm Bureau’s effort to build a multi-million dollar ethanol refinery is an ongoing and promising project, according to Dave Williams, a bureau director. With the refinery’s construction, Williams and the bureau members hope to alleviate high fuel costs for local farmers, provide a ready buyer for local crops and more than 300 new local jobs. Overall, the plant cost estimate is $161 million. Williams said fundraising is in “its infancy.” Last November the bureau was awarded a $47,000 grant to fund a site feasibility study. Williams and other volunteer donors provided additional start-up funding for the project. A down payment of $1,000 was made on a proposed 90-acre building site at Indian Orchard, in Texas Township. With growing local equity, sources such as the Farm Credit Administration can provide up to 45 percent of the final costs, along with another $10 million from the US Agriculture Dept. Williams is confident about funding, but that’s down the line. For now, the money is local. “We’ve all got money in it ... We’re working people, working for the community,” Williams said. “That’s the difference between us and other corporations — we’re not in it for the money,” he said. The land is zoned for industrial use, but other studies, hydraulic, wetlands and archeology, still need to be completed. If all goes as planned and “if we don’t run into an Indian burial ground ... we should have something up and running in three to three and a half years,” he said. The refinery will generate jobs for at least 55 people per shift at the site, but including railroad positions and other related tasks, 350 total jobs will be created regionally, he said. Northeastern Pa. corn crops will be the initial raw source, but eventually, Williams said, cellulose-rich switchgrass will become an alternate fuel source. Williams hopes to endow five percent of investors’ shares to a Wayne-Pike County Farmers Association, which would be non-profit, overseen by a board of directors. The money would be reinvested locally, possibly funding community projects, a year-round farmers’ market, dairy processing plant, or agriculture and financing programs in the schools. Four of the board members will be Wayne-Pike Farm Bureau initial investors; the rest would be community workers with a genuine interest in the project, “rather than a political agenda,” he said. The Lackawaxen-Honesdale Shippers Railroad will play a vital role, since rail transportation will reduce “big truck traffic” on the road. At least five other companies have expressed interest in using the rail as well, he said. While the refinery construction will not be finished for several years, Williams says its completion will be worth the wait. “This is a good, long-lasting, viable market,” he said. “We’re just a small part of fixing the fuel cost problem, but we’re doing it to try and make lifestyles more sustainable.”