Wyden

Oregon Sens. Gordon Smith and Ron Wyden have secured federal funding for the Port of Umatilla to receive a $500,000 grant to build a new biodiesel refining plant.

Once completed, the plant would supply Oregon with 5 million gallons of biodiesel a year, but no construction timetable has been determined nor has a site been selected.

Kim Puzey, general manager of the Port of Umatilla, said discussions are in a preliminary stage, but the project follows the initial plan to build an oilseed industry in Eastern Oregon.

The actual appropriation is expected in early spring, he said, and the money should be available in early summer. It must be spent in about 18 months.

Pendleton Grain Growers and Madison Farms of Echo operate canola crushing and biodiesel refining operations. Puzey said it’s possible PGG and Madison Farms could become crushing operations for a new Eastern Oregon biodiesel plant to be built by Sequential Pacific Biodiesel of Salem, which has a Salem refinery.

Kent Madison of Madison farms, was excited about the plan Tuesday.

“I think it’s a great deal,” he said. “We should localize our biodiesel production within the state of Oregon. The locally grown, locally processed and locally consumed concept is being spurred on by the appropriation from the senators.”

Tyson Keever, Sequential’s general manager, said his company is excited about building a bridge between its Salem plant and Eastern Oregon canola.

“As markets develop, we are expanding our production capacity,” he said, adding that he’s excited about having a plant closer to where the seed stock grows.

It’s also possible PGG could develop food-grade crushing and packaging facilities, Puzey said.

“As the acres come into production we’d determine the best place for a centralized refinery, using surplus oil,” he said.

An ideal scenario, Puzey said, would be selling food-grade canola oil to Oregon companies that cook french fries and potato chips. They would then supply used cooking oil for biodiesel production.

“It speaks to the philosophy we have about trying to benefit the local economy,” Puzey said.

Allen Waggoner, PGG president and chief executive officer, said the cooperative’s goal is adding value back to local growers. He sees two opportunities to do that, one with food-grade, or edible oil, and another with biodiesel.

“This spring we should be in pretty good shape to go into production,” Waggoner said about biodiesel, noting the co-op has both whole and crushed canola seed on hand.

Producing food-grade oil would require certifying PGG’s crushing equipment for food-grade use and obtaining food-grade packaging equipment, either for bulk or retail distribution, he said, adding bulk distribution would be easier.

“We believe there’s a definite opportunity there,” Waggoner said. “We want to see what we can do to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Smith and Wyden said they were pleased to boost the project.

“We should be looking inside, not outside, our country for new sources of energy,” Smith said. “The new plant will rely on local farmers, not foreign oil sources, to help generate an environmentally friendly fuel. Whether it is a farmer, a biodiesel plant worker or someone filling up their tank, this fuel will come from and be used by Oregonians.”

Wyden added, “This plant represents a homegrown solution to our expanding energy needs. Rather than simply continuing to send our money to oil companies and Middle Eastern countries that support terrorist organizations, we can wisely leverage federal resources to find sustainable solutions to America’s dependence on foreign oil.”

Puzey and Waggoner praised the senators’ efforts.

“We appreciate the bipartisanship that made this appropriation possible,” Puzey said. “Senators Smith and Wyden in cooperation with Congressmen Blumenauer and Walden passed important legislation on behalf of the citizens of the state of Oregon.”

In addition to producing biodiesel, the plant also would generate canola meal. All the material refined into biodiesel and canola meal would come from Oregon growers. Canola meal is a widely used animal feed that is rich in vitamins and proteins. It also is used as an organic fertilizer.

The canola meal primarily would be used to supplement livestock production in Oregon and Washington. The plant is expected to produce more than 79 million pounds of canola meal a year in addition to 5 million gallons of biodiesel. The finished product would be shipped from the Port of Umatilla to be sold in the Portland area.

Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard was among those at a meeting Monday at the Port of Umatilla to discuss the pending appropriation.

“I’ve been told we are the only city in the United States that has a direct contract with the farmers that grow the feedstock for the fuel we use,” he said, adding the information came from the League of Oregon Cities.

Portland has a contract with Madison Farms and with Sequential for biodiesel.

“We designed this deal to not only to create biodiesel for Portlanders to burn, but also to benefit Oregon farmers,” Leonard said. “Portlanders will pay more for an Oregon-grown product that they can burn in their cars. “It’s a perfect relationship.”