Rounds gives support to 'Gorilla' at Golf Classic
By Michele Linck Journal staff writer | Posted: Friday, June 22, 2007
DAKOTA DUNES -- South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds said Thursday that he believes Union County is the leading site for a "green" hydrogen-powered oil refinery planned by Hyperion Resources of Dallas. He said he doesn't know and hasn't asked the company what other locations are in contention.
The governor said Hyperion has not asked the state for any financial support or special deals for the $8 billion project and that the state will not change any permitting, licensing or environmental rules for it. "They have simply expressed an interest in doing business here," he said.
"In South Dakota, we lay out the red carpet," he said, not the red tape. He said the state promises prompt service and answers so projects can move along if they're meeting requirements.
Rounds spoke to a roomful of reporters at Dakota Dunes Country Club, where he was entertaining 180 guests in the seventh annual Governor's Golf Classic. Thirty to 35 of the guests are business prospects looking to locate or expand existing businesses in South Dakota or the Sioux City metropolitan area, he said.
The majority of reporters' questions focused on the long-secret refinery -- dubbed Gorilla and recently revealed as the Hyperion Energy Center -- which would process 400,000 barrels of Canadian oil per day, with few emissions. Rounds said the company began looking at Union County 18 months ago and that he has personally been in talks with Hyperion for the past year.
Hyperion, a privately held company, has not made much information about itself available. But Rounds said its chairman, Albert Huddleston, "is who he claims to be." Huddleston played in last year's Classic but is not playing this year.
Rounds said the company, which has bought options on some 5,000 acres in Union County so far, is just beginning a long process, including rezoning, permitting and licensing, all of which will be done in the public eye.
`Risk is theirs'
"There's a huge amount of due diligence that will take place over the next number of years," he said. A typical oil refinery can take five years or more to clear the permitting process, and Hyperion has said its project would take four years to build. It would have a footprint of about 2,000 acres. And Rounds noted that in South Dakota, "local zoning is local." The company will have to convince Union County residents that it has a good project.
He said there is no refinery in the country, possibly in the world, using the technology planned by Hyperion.
"The risk is theirs. They have put, I suspect, hundreds of millions of dollars into this research already," Rounds said. "The only thing the company has asked of the state is to gather support for the project. They have my support for this project."
Rounds defended the initial secrecy as necessary so Hyperion's competitors wouldn't buy up key parcels of land to halt the project. He said its biggest competitors will be "20th century" refineries whose operators fear they'll be held to the environmental standards Hyperion will set.
Think night sky
He said Hyperion wants to be a good neighbor in the rural area here. It will establish a large buffer of ag land around its refinery, which will look more like a manufacturing facility at night and not a brightly lit "eyesore" as do current refineries, he said.
"So we'll still be able to see the stars and enjoy the rural setting we've got today," he said. "That's something I hadn't thought of, but they have."
9-wood ready?
Rounds said about 120 of those invited to the Classic would play in the Thursday afternoon tournament. They were to be placed in foursomes with current businessmen and businesswomen who already have companies in the area and can testify to the quality of the workforce and quality of life here.
The governor said he planned to play the par-3 14th hole with each foursome so he could have a personal conversation with each prospect. "That's 28 or 30 times," he noted. "I will be using a 9-wood, probably."
The tournament is put on each year by Dakota Dunes Development Co., Dakota Valley Business Council and North Sioux City Economic Development Corp., with sponsorship from more than two dozen area businesses.
The governor said Hyperion has not asked the state for any financial support or special deals for the $8 billion project and that the state will not change any permitting, licensing or environmental rules for it. "They have simply expressed an interest in doing business here," he said.
"In South Dakota, we lay out the red carpet," he said, not the red tape. He said the state promises prompt service and answers so projects can move along if they're meeting requirements.
Rounds spoke to a roomful of reporters at Dakota Dunes Country Club, where he was entertaining 180 guests in the seventh annual Governor's Golf Classic. Thirty to 35 of the guests are business prospects looking to locate or expand existing businesses in South Dakota or the Sioux City metropolitan area, he said.
The majority of reporters' questions focused on the long-secret refinery -- dubbed Gorilla and recently revealed as the Hyperion Energy Center -- which would process 400,000 barrels of Canadian oil per day, with few emissions. Rounds said the company began looking at Union County 18 months ago and that he has personally been in talks with Hyperion for the past year.
Hyperion, a privately held company, has not made much information about itself available. But Rounds said its chairman, Albert Huddleston, "is who he claims to be." Huddleston played in last year's Classic but is not playing this year.
Rounds said the company, which has bought options on some 5,000 acres in Union County so far, is just beginning a long process, including rezoning, permitting and licensing, all of which will be done in the public eye.
`Risk is theirs'
"There's a huge amount of due diligence that will take place over the next number of years," he said. A typical oil refinery can take five years or more to clear the permitting process, and Hyperion has said its project would take four years to build. It would have a footprint of about 2,000 acres. And Rounds noted that in South Dakota, "local zoning is local." The company will have to convince Union County residents that it has a good project.
He said there is no refinery in the country, possibly in the world, using the technology planned by Hyperion.
"The risk is theirs. They have put, I suspect, hundreds of millions of dollars into this research already," Rounds said. "The only thing the company has asked of the state is to gather support for the project. They have my support for this project."
Rounds defended the initial secrecy as necessary so Hyperion's competitors wouldn't buy up key parcels of land to halt the project. He said its biggest competitors will be "20th century" refineries whose operators fear they'll be held to the environmental standards Hyperion will set.
Think night sky
He said Hyperion wants to be a good neighbor in the rural area here. It will establish a large buffer of ag land around its refinery, which will look more like a manufacturing facility at night and not a brightly lit "eyesore" as do current refineries, he said.
"So we'll still be able to see the stars and enjoy the rural setting we've got today," he said. "That's something I hadn't thought of, but they have."
9-wood ready?
Rounds said about 120 of those invited to the Classic would play in the Thursday afternoon tournament. They were to be placed in foursomes with current businessmen and businesswomen who already have companies in the area and can testify to the quality of the workforce and quality of life here.
The governor said he planned to play the par-3 14th hole with each foursome so he could have a personal conversation with each prospect. "That's 28 or 30 times," he noted. "I will be using a 9-wood, probably."
The tournament is put on each year by Dakota Dunes Development Co., Dakota Valley Business Council and North Sioux City Economic Development Corp., with sponsorship from more than two dozen area businesses.
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Joe wrote on Jun 22, 2007 9:43 AM: