Professors: Hyperion poses too many environmental problems
By Bret Hayworth Journal staff writer | Posted: Thursday, April 24, 2008
VERMILLION, S.D. -- As 50 people filed in, the key question couldn't be missed.
Projected onto a screen at the front of the Sanford Vermillion Hospital board room was the question, "Should a 400,000-barrel-a-day refinery be built on prime farmland?"
The answer was an emphatic "No" for the presenters and many in attendance.
Attempting to provide information he said isn't forthcoming from Hyperion Resources, the Dallas, Texas-based company that wants to build an oil refinery in Union County, University of South Dakota political science professor emeritus Dean Spader put together a presentation after 300 hours of culling scientific research on the impacts of U.S. refineries. Spader said the proper reaction to an oil refinery 10 miles away is strong fear of negative environmental impact on the air and water from refinery emissions.
He cited a 2002 Harvard Medical School report that determined even allowable U.S. limits of air pollution under the Clean Air Act result in significant negative health effects. Spader said when a valve froze on a Wyoming refinery, a release of pollutants resulted in nearby residents almost immediately suffering respiratory illnesses. Freezing valves in a refinery certainly could happen in a Midwest state like South Dakota, he told the crowd.
"Where will these pollutants go? Into the bread basket of South Dakota," Spader said. "Why would we have an oil refinery in the best (agricultural) land in the world?"
In March, Union County officials approved Hyperion Resources' application to rezone 3,292 acres of farmland to build the refinery. A simple majority vote by county voters on June 3 will determine if that rezoning is ratified.
The company says the 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery would turn heavy crude from the oil sands fields of Alberta into low-sulfur gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Since unveiling the project in 2007, Hyperion officials have frequently said the $10 billion refinery will be a "green," environmentally friendly facility.
Spader blasted the notion of a green refinery, even taking exception to the Hyperion logo, which he said disingenuously uses green color in an attempt at "greenwashing" the public. He said the "Green Charter" that Hyperion touts "holds them to nothing."
Hyperion spokesman Eric Williams wrote in an e-mail that Hyperion is "committed to ... raising the bar by which large-scale energy projects are judged, and the Green Charter holds us to that commitment." He added that the state permitting process "guarantees that we must operate under stringent regulations, and the Union County zoning imposes additional requirements that we must meet -- and which we agree to because they truly help protect the environment and residents.
"We agree that America needs to work toward more and better renewable energy sources, but we're also realists that oil will be a part of our energy mix for decades," Williams wrote. "Suggesting that we all must quit using oil tomorrow just isn't practical."
Spader said in his presentation that a technology that burns more fossil fuel is indefensible today. He cited environmental author Lester Brown, who noted that the 19th century was the century for coal, the 20th century was the province of oil and the 21st century should be the century of solar, wind and other renewable energies.
"Going fossil fuels ... is a really bad idea," said USD chemistry professor James Hoefelmeyer, the other presenter in the session.
Charles Yelverton, a family practice doctor from Vermillion, said he hoped Union County voters vote against the rezoning for the refinery. Yelverton said he had concerns about the health consequences of the refinery and noted that years ago "we didn't think secondhand smoke was bad for you."
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
Projected onto a screen at the front of the Sanford Vermillion Hospital board room was the question, "Should a 400,000-barrel-a-day refinery be built on prime farmland?"
The answer was an emphatic "No" for the presenters and many in attendance.
Attempting to provide information he said isn't forthcoming from Hyperion Resources, the Dallas, Texas-based company that wants to build an oil refinery in Union County, University of South Dakota political science professor emeritus Dean Spader put together a presentation after 300 hours of culling scientific research on the impacts of U.S. refineries. Spader said the proper reaction to an oil refinery 10 miles away is strong fear of negative environmental impact on the air and water from refinery emissions.
He cited a 2002 Harvard Medical School report that determined even allowable U.S. limits of air pollution under the Clean Air Act result in significant negative health effects. Spader said when a valve froze on a Wyoming refinery, a release of pollutants resulted in nearby residents almost immediately suffering respiratory illnesses. Freezing valves in a refinery certainly could happen in a Midwest state like South Dakota, he told the crowd.
"Where will these pollutants go? Into the bread basket of South Dakota," Spader said. "Why would we have an oil refinery in the best (agricultural) land in the world?"
In March, Union County officials approved Hyperion Resources' application to rezone 3,292 acres of farmland to build the refinery. A simple majority vote by county voters on June 3 will determine if that rezoning is ratified.
The company says the 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery would turn heavy crude from the oil sands fields of Alberta into low-sulfur gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Since unveiling the project in 2007, Hyperion officials have frequently said the $10 billion refinery will be a "green," environmentally friendly facility.
Spader blasted the notion of a green refinery, even taking exception to the Hyperion logo, which he said disingenuously uses green color in an attempt at "greenwashing" the public. He said the "Green Charter" that Hyperion touts "holds them to nothing."
Hyperion spokesman Eric Williams wrote in an e-mail that Hyperion is "committed to ... raising the bar by which large-scale energy projects are judged, and the Green Charter holds us to that commitment." He added that the state permitting process "guarantees that we must operate under stringent regulations, and the Union County zoning imposes additional requirements that we must meet -- and which we agree to because they truly help protect the environment and residents.
"We agree that America needs to work toward more and better renewable energy sources, but we're also realists that oil will be a part of our energy mix for decades," Williams wrote. "Suggesting that we all must quit using oil tomorrow just isn't practical."
Spader said in his presentation that a technology that burns more fossil fuel is indefensible today. He cited environmental author Lester Brown, who noted that the 19th century was the century for coal, the 20th century was the province of oil and the 21st century should be the century of solar, wind and other renewable energies.
"Going fossil fuels ... is a really bad idea," said USD chemistry professor James Hoefelmeyer, the other presenter in the session.
Charles Yelverton, a family practice doctor from Vermillion, said he hoped Union County voters vote against the rezoning for the refinery. Yelverton said he had concerns about the health consequences of the refinery and noted that years ago "we didn't think secondhand smoke was bad for you."
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
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Trucker wrote on Apr 27, 2008 10:33 PM:
Thorgood wrote on Apr 26, 2008 12:26 AM:
Think about it. wrote on Apr 25, 2008 1:36 PM:
plus more added industry in north SC,
cookie dough, Dump burn in Elk Point, and the Refinery, PUKE. "
Sparky wrote on Apr 25, 2008 12:16 AM:
Yoo- mama wrote on Apr 24, 2008 5:53 PM: