By Brenda Showalter, The Republic Reporter

MORRISTOWN - Bartholomew County businessmen Charles "Shorty" and John Whittington celebrated the opening of their new $6 million biodiesel plant in Shelby County in style.

Nearly 400 people attended the Tuesday open house, including Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and state agricultural leaders who toured the 40,000-square-foot facility.

About 250 farmers attended and signed a framed certificate declaring Aug. 1 as "Independence from Imported Oil Day."

The certificate was presented to Skillman, who praised the Whittingtons' economic investment, the commitment to supporting farmers and reducing the country's dependence on foreign oil.

The farmers also toured nearby Bunge North America soybean processing plant and boarded six buses bound for Evansville where they would attend a banquet honoring pioneers of Indiana's renewable fuel industry.

Integrity Biofuels is in the Morristown Industrial Park next to Bunge, which supplies the soybean oil that is used to produce B100 (100 percent biodiesel).

The fuel is sold to distributors who also sell biodiesel blended with petroleum. B20, for example, is 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum diesel.

Biodiesel can be blended with petroleum diesel at any level, and can be used with any diesel engine with few or no modifications.

Integrity expects to produce 17,000 gallons of biodiesel a day and 5 to 6 million gallons a year.

The ambitious Whittingtons, father and son, also hope to triple that production within one year.

Latest technology

During the plant tour, John Whittington explained how the plant is fully automated and will require just three employees per shift.

Those attending also learned about emphasis on safety, the environment and quality-assurance, including a high-tech system that allows the quality of each load of biodiesel to be analyzed before leaving the plant.

Skillman said Integrity and other Indiana alternative fuel plants will not eliminate the country's need for foreign oil, but will position the state to be on the forefront of decreasing that need.

She added that investment in biodiesel and ethanol (made with corn), is providing a major boost to the state's economy, particularly to rural areas and farming communities.

Andy Miller, Indiana agriculture director, said Integrity will have a "tremendous economic impact" on Shelby County and Indiana and will help move the state to energy self-sufficiency.

"We will help provide fuel from the Midwest instead of the Mideast," said Fletcher Hall of the American Trucking Association.

New venture

Shorty Whittington, who has a background in farming and trucking, decided to venture into biofuel production when he saw the demand for the product and the country's desire to become less dependent on foreign oil.

In 1977, he founded Grammer Industries, a Bartholomew County trucking firm that hauls hazardous and non-hazardous materials.

He also has been actively involved in state and national trucking associations and used biodiesel in his fleet of trucks.

Shorty and John Whittington have been working on the biodiesel plant project for more than a year and are eager to get started and expand as soon as possible.

Integrity made its first delivery on Monday, but took a day off on Tuesday to celebrate and thank supporters.

"We'll be back up and running on tomorrow," Shorty said.
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