| VASSAR TWP. -- A partnership has been struck between area
corn growers and a South Dakota corporation to build an
ethanol plant in Michigan.
The Michigan Corn Processors LLC reached an oral agreement
Wednesday with Michigan Ethanol LLC, a subsidiary of Broin
& Associates of Sioux Falls, S.D. The deal should be
sealed in 30 days, said Ken Swanson, president of the Michigan
farmers group.
The plant would be built in Tuscola County and give growers
a new market -- and likely a higher selling price -- for their
commodity. Corn would be processed into the gasoline additive
ethanol.
Ethanol is touted to give higher octane and replace
pollutants.
The plant also would produce carbon dioxide --used to
carbonate beverages -- and a cattle feed supplement.
The corn growers must raise their portion of the $8 million
plant cost through a stock offering from June 15 to July 31.
"The agreement that we have with Michigan Ethanol is
we have to have our money and be able to complete the deal by
Oct. 31," said Mr. Swanson of the Michigan Corn
Prossessors LLC farmers group.
"If we raise less, we won't own as much of the
company."
He said along with a $10 million subsidy expected from the
state, the growers could buy 20% of the company.
The growers are working with the Legislature to get the
grant money -- not for plant construction but for
infrastructure and any mandatory environmental add-ons.
Mr. Swanson said without the grant money, the plant
couldn't be competitive with nearby states such as Minnesota,
which produces ethanol with help from its Legislature.
Senate Majority Leader Dan DeGrow, R-Port Huron, said he
wouldn't know what subsidy -- if any -- would be allocated
until June.
The proposed 144-acre Vassar Township plant faces
opposition.
The Concerned Citizens for Rural Character group is
fighting it by mounting a petition drive to force a vote of
township residents, Mr. Swanson said.
Critics fear the plant will emit unpleasant odors.
They also fear it will siphon away the aquifer and dry up
neighboring wells.
The corn growers and ethanol company are already looking
for an alternative site in case they are voted out.
"We are not willing to give up," Mr. Swanson
said. |