People in the audience at Monday's meeting in Conoy Township wear masks over their mouths to protest being excluded from discussions about a proposed ethanol plant.
A conditional-use hearing on the proposed $100 million ethanol plant in Conoy Township opened Monday with a three-hour session.
Nearly 100 concerned residents filled Bainbridge Fire Hall to listen to Seth Obetz, president of Worley & Obetz and the newly created Lancaster Biofuels, the company that has submitted the project.
Obetz spent a half an hour laying out the basic features during a slide show featuring the controversial plant to be located beside the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority incinerator on Route 441. "We certainly would want to do whatever we can within our means and what is reasonable to create a safe facility," Obetz said. "That's the way we do projects."
A number of residents donned masks with a black X covering their mouths in protest for not being granted party status by Conoy Township supervisors to engage in discussions at the conditional-use hearing.
Obetz said the plant is expected to produce 60 million gallons of ethanol a year using a similar process in the production of alcohol. The process will take 946,000 gallons of water per day from the Susquehanna River, Obetz said, with 216,000 gallons discharged back into the river and up to 637,000 gallons evaporated in the cooling process. Obetz said he anticipates 190 vehicle trips per day to the plant, including: 23 truckloads of ethanol, 16 truckloads of corn imports, 20 truckloads of dry distillers grain, 13 truckloads of wet distillers grain and 19 truckloads of carbon dioxide. One train will arrive every 5 to 9 days carrying corn from the Midwest, Obetz said, and the train cars could be as long as one mile. Steam from the incinerator will power the ethanol production process.
Lawyers representing residents asked Obetz about noise that will be produced during the distilling process. Obetz said the noise will not exceed 65 decibels along Route 441, which he compared to the noise level of a normal conversation.
Obetz said Lancaster Biofuels is requesting 18 months to begin construction and 42 months for completion of the project. The plans for the project have not been finalized, Obetz said, including a geological survey, air and water quality reports and an environmental impact study.
Elizabeth Witmer, a lawyer representing Nissley Vineyards, grilled Obetz for more than an hour on each slide he presented at the hearing. She asked if Lancaster Biofuels plans on bringing engineers and consultants to future meetings. Obetz said said no decision has been made to allow the consulting engineers to testify at the hearings, but questions could be answered in writing.
"We want to try to make sure we are addressing concerns in the best way we can," Obetz said.
The hearing will continue at 6 p.m. Oct. 23 at Bainbridge Fire Hall.
E-mail: myoder@lnpnews.com