Chesapeake panel OKs new biodiesel facility

CHESAPEAKE

Recycled French fry oil could soon be part of what fuels local government vehicles after the city's Planning Commission approved a conditional-use permit for a biodiesel plant in an industrial complex off Military Highway.

Tidewater Biodiesel plans to build a 10 million-gallon-per-year facility on 5 acres of a 50-acre industrial complex on Steel Street in the Deep Creek borough by 2012.

Wednesday night, residents spoke in support of the project, with one opposed to the potential detriment to home values - though she said she supports the project itself.

Susan Bell, a resident of the Forest Cove/Raintree area, helped get word out about a meeting between the public and the company on April 2. She said neighbors who attended the meeting were "very pleased with what they were presented."

"This won't be any danger to our community," she told the Planning Commission. "I do feel confident that we will be in capable hands."

In 2007, Smiling Earth Energy LLC, was cleared to build one of the nation's largest biodiesel plants in South Norfolk. While the City Council approved the project, the developer didn't build the 320 million-gallon-per-year plant.

The Tidewater plant would not produce more than 10 million gallons per year and would serve the region using only local products, said Pete Burkhimer, an engineer with Engineering Services Inc., which represented Tidewater Biodiesel. The plant would use an all-closed process system, meaning it will not emit gases or fumes through smokestacks, he said.

"It's an environmentally friendly thing to do," he said.

Thomas Arrington, chairman of Tidewater Biodiesel, said the company would help the Navy reach its goal to have 50 percent of its fleet operating on biodiesel by 2020. Using biodiesel fuel from a local facility would help reduce the country's dependence on foreign oil, he said.

The Planning Commission approved the use permit; the City Council will have final approval.