'bout damned time!Of course, this is gonna bring every leftist group out of the woodwork. No way do they want increased refining capacity.
Time for the environwackos to "discover" an endangered species living on the site.
Posted on 03/23/2005 8:34:34 AM PST by adam_az
Adblock Public comments on the proposed Yuma-area refinery will not likely result in the Environmental Protection Agency revoking the permit, officials said.
On Monday the EPA approved state regulators’ draft permit for a proposed $2.5 billion oil refinery along Interstate 8 about 40 miles east of Tacna, a development which the project’s sponsor says should help it both secure financing and a source of crude oil.
The Arizona Clean Fuels project would be the first refinery ever built in Arizona and the first in the United States in nearly three decades.
According to Gerardo Rios, chief of the permits office in the air division of EPA's Region 9, the public has 60 days to petition, or raise issues they've already raised in a public comment period with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
To petition, someone who commented during the ADEQ public comment period would have to write a letter to the EPA administrator outlining the issue they believe was not addressed in the permit approval.
The EPA then has 60 days to respond to any petitions filed. Petitions filed on an issue that was not previously raised will be denied, Rios said. If the EPA does grant a petition, the ADEQ has 90 days to modify the permit in accordance with the petition.
"If we deny all petitions, the permitting agency doesn't do anything and the permit becomes final," Rios said.
If ADEQ found that they could not modify the permit to the EPA's specification, then the EPA would take over the permitting process, but Rios said it would be unlikely that the state of Arizona would not comply with the modifications.
According to an ADEQ news release issued Tuesday, "The EPA had 45 days to review the draft permit sent to them in February. EPA suggested minor procedural and technical revisions to the permit, which ADEQ has agreed to make. ADEQ anticipates issuing the final permit within the next two weeks."
Ian Calkins, spokesman for ACF, the company that wants to build the refinery, said from a technical standpoint the EPA could come back and revoke or terminate the permit at the end of the petition period even though ADEQ will have issued the permit, but said that it is a "remote possibility."
Calkins said the ADEQ found nothing in the permit application out of line with local or state regulations and the EPA didn't find anything out of line with federal regulations.
"It's more of a procedural matter than it is necessarily a strict policy matter," Calkins said. "We're operating under the assumption that because both agencies have not objected to anything in the permit, (that's a) testament that the permit is air tight."
Calkins said negotiations continue with Mexican authorities for both a supply of crude oil and construction of a terminal and pipeline to carry crude to the refinery from a Mexican port on the Gulf of California.
The air-quality regulatory actions will help in both of those negotiations and in dealings with potential investors for the $500 million for the design phase of the project, Calkins said.
Though there is debate within Mexican political circles over foreign investment in the nation’s energy resources, ‘‘I believe we won’t be swept up in that process,’’ Calkins said.
Mexican President Vicente Fox wants to give the state oil monopoly, Petróleos Mexicanos, more independence on its investments and to let Pemex ally itself with private companies to exploit reserves in deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
The anticipated permitting ‘‘sends a very strong message south of the border,’’ Calkins said.
Besides the final state air-quality permit, ACF also needs to complete an environmental impact statement with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management for both the refinery and the pipeline, Calkins said.
The facility could produce approximately 150,000 barrels per day of motor fuels, including approximately 85,000 barrels per day of gasoline, 35,000 barrels per day of diesel fuel and 30,000 barrels per day of jet fuel.
Local residents have offered varying opinions on the project, with some saying they don’t want a refinery in their backyard and others welcoming the jobs it would provide.
Calkins said ACF still plans to begin construction in 2006.
The Arizona Clean Fuels project would be the first refinery ever built in Arizona and the first in the United States in nearly three decades.
'Bout darned time!
Great, hope they build more and drill in ANWR!We have to stop being so dependent on Arab oil.
In a country where oil has been such an important issue for well over 40 years, this lack of action makes no sense.
the EPA approved state regulators’ draft permit
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LOL Well that accomplished something...
Looks like another year+ of objections. I bet the environmentalists find someting like 'the jumping mouse':
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1331856/posts
Abolish the EPA (and throw in these state regulators too).
Get it built and get Kinder Morgan out our state ASAP!
'bout damned time!Of course, this is gonna bring every leftist group out of the woodwork. No way do they want increased refining capacity.
Time for the environwackos to "discover" an endangered species living on the site.
Great news for us Arizonans! No more relying upon ancient gas pipes from Texas and Cali.
Yup. We need Anne-War and about 20 more of these places built pronto.
Over all good news for the Yuma project, one I have been tracking for several years (w/o holding my breath). This has long been a "pie-in-the-sky" and no longer appears on any project reports or forecasts.
However, there have been other refineries in Arizona:
The two refineries in Arizona remained shut down in 2001. The Intermountain Refinery near Fredonia was removed from active status in January 1997. The Sunbelt Refinery near Coolidge was removed from active status in August 1993.
I cannot stand it when reporter's do not do their homework.
Well worth reading.
Hallelujah. Wonderful news. Let's build another one!
If it is built there will still be K-M pipelines in AZ. or Pacific-Texas or someone.
You are correct there will still be pipelines in our state, but if the build enough capacity into the refinery maybe we can turn the pipelines off! Thus getting Kinder Morgan out of Arizona.
thanks for the link. The article is quite fascinating. There is no doubt, Nuclear power will make a big return, and rightly so.
only need a few dozen more now
Great! Now we need about 50% more refineries than we have now and a streamlining of the boutique fuel enviro-nonsense, then gas prices can be driven back to half of their current price.
If y'all want cheaper motor fuels, this is a beginning.
Don't stop breathing just yet. There's a world of difference between securing the permit and actually getting the project built. Doubtless the leftists are even now preparing hundreds upon hundreds of lawsuits challenging every provision of the permit you can imagine. Most of them will be completely frivolous actions and will be dismissed out of hand, but they will still serve their purpose of clogging up the courts and delaying construction on the project.
And all they have to do is get a few of them in front of the right liberal activist judges, and they can litigate the permit for years and years. These left wing groups have unlimited funds thanks to outfits like the Tides Foundation, unlimited access to far left attorneys and law students who will volunteer to perform much of the legal scut, and the full backing and support of the democrat party and it's media.
The permittee, OTOH, has to shoulder every penny of the cost of defending his interests, including all the engineering studies and expert analyses. He can also count on being subjected to a non-stop smear campaign in the press, along with any politician who dares to voice support for the project.
The leftist assault is carefully designed to wear these people down, make them decide that it's too expensive and damaging to their long-term interests to proceed with the project, and then to abandon it. It succeeds all too often.
The extreme left and the democrats have effectively imposed a moratorium on energy infrastructure improvements in this country that has endured for decades. They will go all out to keep that moratorium in place.
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