One plant ready for construction, another battling lawsuit

Associated Press

DODGE CITY, Kan. - As one proposed ethanol plant in Ford County continues to fight a lawsuit filed by angry landowners, another is ready for construction nine miles to the west.

Omaha, Neb.-based Dial Bio-Renewable Fuels is proposing to build Kansas' largest biofuels complex. The plant, four miles west of Dodge City, would be capable of producing 226.8 million gallons of ethanol and 60 million gallons of biodiesel per year.

A request for a conditional-use permit was filed last week, and the Ford County Zoning Board will consider the application March 26. A final decision would come from the Ford County Commission.

"All I can say is we'll begin construction as soon as the permitting process allows us," said Dave Wehner of Dial Bio-Renewable Fuels.

Wehner said a plant that would produce 113.4 million gallons would be built first, followed by the biodiesel complex. An expansion of the first ethanol plant would double its capacity. The entire project, valued at $550 million, would eventually employ 70 to 80 people.

The plant would include "state-of-the-art technology to control smoke, dust, odor, gas and noise," according to the application, and be located on about 66 acres of land just outside of a 100-year flood plain.

"We have filed (all paperwork) according to the rules," Wehner said. "We played according to the book."

Landowners five miles east of Dodge City say that's not the case with another company that is trying to build an ethanol plant.

Residents of the small, unincorporated town of Wright are suing the Ford County Commission for approving a plan by Boot Hill Biofuels to build a $185 million facility.

They contend the company did not comply with all local zoning rules in seeking county permission.

County and company officials said proper protocol was followed in approving the plant, which would produce about 110 million gallons of ethanol a year. A final brief of the lawsuit is due Wednesday and a judge is expected to render a decision soon.