By MARY ANN LEWIS, Commercial Review


The Andersons Inc. is looking at the possibility of constructing an ethanol plant in Greenville, Ohio.

Officials with The Andersons said in a news release Monday that it had submitted an application for an air permit to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency in preparation for a potential ethanol plant to be constructed near the county seat of Darke County.

The Andersons, which operates a large grain terminal just east of Dunkirk, had previously filed for air permits in connection with a proposed 165 million gallon facility to be located adjacent to the grain operation.

The last public comment made by company officials regarding the Dunkirk site was that testing was ongoing on the water supply in the area.

If the Greenville project goes forward, this facility would produce 110 million gallons of ethanol annually and would be the first fuel ethanol production plant in Ohio. Depending on the timing, the facility could be operational as soon as the first quarter of 2008, the news release from The Andersons said.

Greenville mayor Greg Fraley said this morning that city officials had been working with The Andersons Inc. since April in an attempt to attract the ethanol production facility.

“We’ve been putting a lot of effort into bringing a plant here. We’ve been looking for the past two and one-half years,” Fraley said about looking at other facilities.

The location The Andersons have targeted is an 86-acre site in Greenville’s industrial park on the city’s southeast side. The company currently has an option to purchase the site.

“There are ongoing discussions,” Fraley said concerning infrastructure issues and the kind of economic package that may be offered. “That’s still to come,” he said.

A message left with Gary L. Smith, vice president, finance and treasurer, of The Andersons, was not returned this morning.

Fraley noted that there are four ethanol plants being proposed in a 30-mile radius from Greenville — including one near Portland, the Dunkirk site and a proposed construction site for Cardinal Ethanol in Harrisville, about five miles east of Winchester. That site is only about 16 miles from Greenville, Fraley noted. Additionally, a site is also being considered near Celina in Mercer County as well as the ongoing plans for the Premier Ethanol plant near Portland.

“It could be an overload,” Fraley said about the number of proposed sites in the area drawing from the area’s corn supply. “We’ll just have to see how it plays out.”

Two other facilities are under construction by The Andersons. The Albion Ethanol LLC is scheduled for completion in August, and the Clymers Ethanol LLC is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2007.
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