Replies to post #23716 on Alto Ingredients Inc (ALTO)

[tpappa]

I think we're on a much larger prospect here. I think this thing will break past records and is going into new profit ground as a company. It's going to be fun to watch.

[kel3]

2 WC/DEEP Water Ports that PEIX Owns are In Demand.

Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery crude oil terminal Over Loaded by Double, Global Partners LP has committed the “highest level violation” of state environmental rules

Looks Like they Will Need Another Shipping Facility , and There Is ONLY 2. PEIX Owns BOTH of them

(PEIX Stockton and Boardman Facilities are Both On Deep Water Ports ~ Stockton and Morrow)

Oil train terminal near Clatskanie violated state law by growing without required permit, DEQ says
By Rob Davis | rdavis@oregonian March 03, 2014 at 6:26 PM

When the bankrupted Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery took on a new life in 2012, the public had little way to know what was happening behind the scenes.

Instead of the failed venture -- turning corn into ethanol fuel -- owners of the industrial plant on the Oregon side of the Columbia River near Clatskanie got permission to do something different.

In June 2012, Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality quickly signed off on an air pollution permit change that allowed the plant to move crude from trains onto barges bound for West Coast oil refineries, saying the shift had an incidental effect on air emissions.

The impact on nearby communities was far from incidental. Without any debate, the state agency cleared the way for trains to begin hauling volatile North Dakota crude oil, increasing risks in rural towns such as Scappoose, St. Helens and Rainier. It’s the same type of oil involved in three high-profile explosions last year, including an accident that killed 47 people in Quebec.

Residents of small towns along the Columbia River didn’t figure out crude oil moved in the mile-long trains that showed up in late 2012 until weeks after they arrived.

“We didn’t know. No one knew,” said Steven Massey, a Rainier city councilman. “We knew they had over 100 cars. People were alarmed at the blockage at intersections, but we didn’t have any idea they were hauling volatile crude.”

oil train route
View full size
Now, as public scrutiny of oil trains increases, DEQ regulators say the Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery needs a new permit to unload crude and has committed the “highest level violation” of state environmental rules by moving 297 million gallons of oil between December 2012 and November 2013. Its permit allowed it to move 50 million gallons.

“When somebody’s engaged in a business activity that’s distinct and separate, that needs its own permit,” said David Monro, a DEQ air quality manager. “You can’t have a crude oil terminal operating under an ethanol plant permit.”

The terminal’s new proposed air pollution permit would allow it to move 1.8 billion gallons of oil annually, enough to bring in 50 trains per month.

That’s twice the number of trains it’s allowed to handle today. It can accept 24 trains a month and increase to 38 monthly if improvements are made to tracks running through downtown Rainier.

The terminal, owned and operated by Global Partners LP, a Massachusetts company, faces a maximum $25,000 fine for each day it operated out of compliance.

The company disputes the violation and says it has the approvals it needs for the facility, even though it’s now seeking a new permit.

“We have the permits in place to conduct the operations we are at the facility,” said Ed Faneuil, Global Partners’ general counsel. “We respectfully disagree with the position asserted by DEQ but look forward to that dialogue with them during the process.”

An environmental group opposed to oil trains said the state should’ve allowed public participation much sooner.

“These decisions about projects with major threats to our safety and salmon shouldn’t be made in private,” said Brett VandenHuevel, Columbia Riverkeeper’s executive director. “We need a robust public discussion. Doing so a year-and-a-half later is unacceptable.”

As Global Partners looks to increase volumes moved through the terminal, it hopes to restart the ethanol plant. Eric Slifka, Global Partners’ CEO, said the facility has a future as both an ethanol plant and oil terminal.

Global wants to invest between $50 million and $70 million at the facility to expand storage, improve infrastructure and hire additional employees to operate the ethanol plant. To make ethanol, the plant would need to accept about 11 trains carrying only corn each month. Those would count against the company’s forecast monthly maximum of 50 trains, a company spokeswoman said.

Any increase beyond 38 trains a month would require approval by the Port of St. Helens, which owns the land where the terminal sits.

Members of the public who want to comment on the oil terminal’s new air permit can attend an April 3 public hearing at Clatskanie High School starting at 6 p.m. They can submit comments online by emailing NWRAQPermits@deq