Integrity Biofuels, located in Morristown, will be idling its biodiesel production and has begun the layoff process.
Due to poor economic conditions in the biodiesel industry, the facility will be shutting down until further notice.
Integrity Biofuels currently produces nearly five million gallons of biodiesel per year and employs 14 people in Morristown.
Integrity Biofuels was Indiana’s first biodiesel plant, opening its doors in August of 2006. The facility has multi-feedstock capabilities of producing quality biodiesel from many different sources including soybean oil, canola oil, animal fats, and used cooking oil.
“It’s very unfortunate that government policy, or lack thereof, can have such an impact on an industry,” said John Whittington, co-owner of Integrity Biofuels, in a media release. “Since 2005, the Biodiesel Tax Credit incentive, which was put in place to encourage the development of the renewable fuels industry, has been treated like a yo-yo, providing no stability to the biodiesel markets. The dysfunctional happenings inside the beltway of Washington D.C. have distracted our elected officials and they have turned their backs on the industry that they once encouraged to grow.
“Without a long-term policy in place, even if that means a slow phase out of the Biodiesel Tax Credit, our industry continues to have unstable markets. No one knows for sure if the credit will come back, or if it will be retroactive if it is reinstated. This suppresses the market and only allows those who are willing to take a risk at the government’s roulette table and those who have the cash capabilities to wait for a possible reinstatement or retroactive tax credit. This is a ridiculous way to treat an industry and terrible management of our tax dollars by the government.”
The U.S. Congress allowed the biodiesel tax credit to expire at the end of 2009, 2011, 2013, 2016, and 2017, which meant that the credit was not initially in place for 2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. In each of these previous years the tax credit was eventually reinstated retroactively through various pieces of legislation near the end of December or early the following year.
The industry has now been without the credit since Dec. 31, 2017, over 23 months. With the history of it being expired and then reinstated this many times confuses the marketplace.
Other headwinds to the industry include the EPA offering Small Refinery Exemptions to allow big oil producers a way out of fulfilling renewable fuel obligations under the Renewable Fuels Standard regulations. The industry is facing additional threats from subsidized imports from Argentina and other countries.
Copyright © 2024 The Shelbyville News