New Refinery threatens Arizona :

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YUMA COUNTY CITIZENS FOR CLEAN AIR
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Refinery gets permit
Group To Take Refinery Permit Battle to EPA as State issues permit

BY JONATHAN ATHENS
STAFF WRITER
The YUMA SUN
April 15, 2005

A much-debated oil refinery in Yuma County on Thursday got an air quality permit that state environmental regulators say is the toughest one ever issued.

A grass-roots citizens group that opposes the proposed refinery vowed to take their fight to the Environmental Protection Agency, asking that agency to take over responsibility for enforcement and compliance.

"If constructed, this will be the cleanest refinery ever built," said Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Director Steve Owen in a news release. ADEQ issued the permit.

The "if" depends on whether Arizona Clean Fuels, the Phoenix-based company that wants to build the refinery, can raise the $2.5 billion it will cost and begin construction within a limited time frame.

The company has raised between $20 million and $30 million from private investors — and spent that money — over the last five years as it went through the permitting process.

Under state law, the permit is good for five years but will expire if Arizona Clean Fuels does not begin construction within 18 months of the permit’s effective date of May 14, ADEQ said.

Glenn McGinnis, Arizona Clean Fuels chief executive officer, said he believes the company can raise the necessary capital and start construction in time. McGinnis said a total of 50 individuals have invested money in the project thus far, though most of the capital has come from three investors.

McGinnis said all are U.S. investors and wish to remain anonymous. McGinnis said the company now will seek additional investors and work to get the additional permits the company needs to move forward with their plans. The refinery itself will cost about $2 billion, and a proposed underground crude oil pipeline from Mexico about $500 million.

McGinnis said the company will ask ADEQ for an extension if it can't meet the 18-month deadline.

The refinery would be the first one built in the United States in nearly 30 years. The 150,000 barrel-a-day facility would be located on vacant desert land 40 miles east of Yuma, near Tacna.

Company officials have estimated construction could start in 2006 and be completed in 2009.

The proposed refinery has divided many in the community, prompting debates on whether the economic benefits are worth the environmental tradeoffs.

Theresa Ulmer, spokeswoman for Yuma County Citizens for Clean Air, said: "We're going to fight this air permit."

ADEQ issued the final permit, which sets emissions limits and compliance standards, after EPA OK'd the state's draft in March.

Ulmer said the citizens group will petition the EPA and ask them to take over the responsibility for enforcement and compliance.

Ulmer said environmental regulators have not adequately addressed concerns raised about pollution or potential health effects.

Owens has said ADEQ has modified the permit to include additional reporting requirements and compliance measures.

An environmental impact statement on the proposed refinery by the Bureau of Land Management is due to be finished later this year.

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Forum looks at refinery pollutants

By Jonathan Athens
Sun Staff Writer
The YUMA SUN
April 8, 2005

"You've got a balancing act. You've got to decide. Nobody can tell you what to do. "

That's what San Francisco-based environmentalist Denny Larson told an audience of more than 70 people on Thursday at a forum about a controversial proposed oil refinery for Yuma County.

The balancing act is whether the expected economic gain a proposed new refinery would bring is worth the pollution that the refinery would also create.

The controversial issue has mobilized supporters and opponents in the community, prompting petitions, debates, public presentations and letters to The Sun.

The forum was sponsored by Yuma County Citizens for Clean Air, a citizens group that opposes Arizona Clean Fuel's vision to build a 150,000 barrel-a-day modern refinery on vacant desert land 40 miles east of Yuma near Tacna.

The only available information thus far about the planned refinery has come from ACF, the draft permit and the technical support documents accompanying the draft permit.

ACF and state environmental regulators have said the proposed refinery would be "the cleanest operating" one for its kind in the U.S., owing stringent emissions standards and the use of new technology developed since the last completely new refinery was built in the nation.

One issue at the forum was how much pollution the proposed refinery would emit if it were built.

Larson said older existing refineries have been modernized as required by federal environmental regulations and some oil industrial parks have new refineries that were built from the ground up.

Larson said refineries emit higher levels of pollutants than what is outlined in air permits and measured by refineries and inspectors.

The draft air permit for the permit proposed refinery here, written by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, sets maximum allowable emissions at 1,891 tons of pollutants per year.

Late last month, the Environmental Protection Agency raised no objection to the draft permit which ADEQ has revised, adding more monitoring and emissions reporting requirements.

Neil Carman, a former Texas environmental inspector and now with the Texas Sierra Club,, said: "If we were to make permits truly protective of public health, it would be too expensive to build plants."

At a news conference two hours before the forum, Carman said the draft air permit does not account for emissions that come from start-ups, shutdown and upsets, which all refineries experience.

Carman said emissions during those type of events far exceed limitations set in air permits.

ACF spokesman Ian Caulkins said, "We are held by the letter of the law to fix any problems."

Regarding the draft air permit standards, Calkins said: "What's practical? Could you even build a refinery that doesn't have emissions?"

Before ACF can move their plans, an environmental impact statement, to be written by the Bureau of Land Management, is expected to be produced and completed late this year.

The impact statement will address the economic, social and environmental impacts of the proposed refinery.

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Citizens group to hold public forum on proposed oil refinery

Apr 6, 2005
Yuma Sun

Yuma County Citizens for Clean Air will hold a public forum on Thursday about a controversial proposed oil refinery planned for Yuma County.

The forum will feature Denny Larson, coordinator of the San Francisco-based Refinery Reform Campaign and Neil Carman, Clean Air program director for the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter.

"This forum will offer a view that has not yet been explored in Yuma County", according to a news release from the citizens group, which is opposed to the refinery.

The forum will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Sierra Vista Presbyterian Church, 150 W. 28th St., according to the release.

Phoenix-based Arizona Clean Fuels proposes to build the refinery along Interstate 8 about 40 miles east of Tacna. It would be the first refinery ever built in Arizona and the first in the United States in nearly three decades.

Supporters say the refinery would add to the county's economic base, create new jobs, generate millions of dollars in property tax revenues and meet growing demands for fuel.

Opponents fear the refinery could cause pollution that would adversely affect human health and the environment and that the refinery could lower the quality of life in the county.

© Copyright, YumaSun.com

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EPA: No objection to refinery permit

BY TAMMY KRIKORIAN
Mar 22, 2005

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decided Monday that it does not object to the draft air permit for a proposed oil refinery in Yuma County.

Wendy Chavez, EPA spokeswoman, said the EPA had 45 days to review the permit and worked with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to ensure that all federal requirements were satisfied by Arizona Clean Fuels, the Phoenix-based company that wants to build the refinery.

Chavez said the permit will now go to a 60-day petition period, during which public commentors can petition the EPA in support or opposition of the permit. Only issues addressed during the previous comment period may be raised.

However, Steve Owens, director of ADEQ, and Ian Calkins, spokesman for Arizona Clean Fuels, both said they are not aware of any such comment period.

"There is no requirement for an additional comment period," said Owens. "They did not object to the permit, we've done all our public notice and comment".

Owens said the ADEQ will need to make a few minor technical changes to the 500-page permit to meet the EPA requirements, and they anticipate finalizing the permit by the end of next week.

"We're obviously pleased with the EPA's decision, it's something we've been expecting for a while," Owens said.

Owens said ADEQ has worked very closely with the EPA throughout the entire process and it's the toughest permit that's ever been posed for a refinery.

"If built, it will be the cleanest refinery ever built," Owens said.

"We had every reason to believe that the EPA was not going to object," Calkins said. "It's no surprise to us. We had gone backwards and forwards with our permit application to make sure we were complying. ... We're delighted that the EPA has allowed the permit now to proceed. It allows us to move on to the next step, to secure remaining permits and secure investment capital."

Calkins said it is just a matter of process for ADEQ to finalize the permit.

By not objecting, the EPA "confirms for us that our permit application is complete and demonstrates full compliance. ... For that we're excited, and we move on to next phase of the project," Calkins said.

Erin Horner, spokeswoman for Yuma Citizens for Clean Air, could not be reached for comment Monday, but told The Sun prior to the decision that the group would consider appealing if the EPA approved the permit.

After the permit went through several revisions, the ADEQ set maximum allowable emissions standards at 1,891 tons of pollutants per year.

Once ADEQ issues the permit, ACF will seek approval on about two dozen other federal, state and local permits needed to build and operate the refinery.

The Bureau of Land Management will produce an environmental impact statement before ACF can move forward. The statement is expected to be complete in late 2005.

Tammy Krikorian can be reached at tkrikorian@yumasun.com or 539-6847

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Yumans want more refinery info

BY MICHELLE VOLKMANN
Yuma Sun
Mar 13, 2005

Nearly 30 people listened as two Yuma residents expressed their opinions on the proposed oil refinery near Tacna during a debate on Saturday.

The event, which was organized by the Yuma Democratic Club, was designed to give the pros and cons of the proposed $2.5 billion refinery.

Greater Yuma Economic Development Corp. Project Manager Julie Engle presented the arguments in favor of it, while Snyder Farm owner Jack Cunningham argued against it. Councilman Gerry Giss was the moderator.

Engle said this refinery will not be the dirty industrial place people think it will be.

"I think the only thing wrong with this project is it has the word 'refinery' in it," she said. "This is not going to be a refinery. It's not going to look like a refinery. It's not going to have smokestacks. It's not going to putting out that cloud that refineries put out."

If built, this refinery would be the first one built in the United States in 30 years and some claim it will be the "cleanest" one ever built.

"It is absolutely true, if this refinery is built, it will be the cleanest refinery ever built," Cunningham told the crowd at The Crossing restaurant. "But then the Titanic was safest boat ever built. Man can not build things perfectly."

But that doesn't mean you don't try, Engle said.

"I'm really glad after the Titanic sank they didn't stop building ships because I've been on a cruise and it was the best vacation I ever had," she said. "I would love to see this oil refinery replace all of our oil refineries in the United States."

Phoenix-based Arizona Clean Fuels is trying to build an oil refinery on vacant desert land 40 miles east of Yuma. The company would like to start construction by 2006.

Right now, the company is waiting for the Environmental Protection Agency to announce a decision on a draft permit which was written by the Arizona Department of Environ- mental Quality. The permit sets the maximum allowable emissions standards and compliance rules for the refinery.

That announcement is expected to come on March 21.

Supporters of the refinery say it will generate property tax revenue and provide 600 new jobs to the county.

Refinery opponents agreed that will happen, but it will also have a detrimental effect on the environment.

"We're not saying don't build it," Cunningham said. "Make the monitoring (information) publicly available. Don't keep it locked up in a room in a secret room where you can jack around with the figures. We just feel this is a reasonable thing to do."

Regulation by ADEQ and EPA is what everyone wants, Engle added.

"We want nothing more than strict monitoring," she said. "We want those answers too. We are opposed to people using emotional-based arguments for something that could benefit the entire United States, the entire world".

The two did agreed that it was unlikely this refinery will get built.

"We may be arguing about something that may never happen," Engle said.

Michelle Volkmann can be reached at
mvolkmann@yumasun.com or 539-6855.

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