Sierra Club joins Hyperion oil refinery fight
By Meagan Sexton Journal staff writer(c) 2008 Sioux City Journal | Posted: Wednesday, October 01, 2008
ELK POINT, S.D. --- The Sierra Club is stepping up its efforts, with policy and legal experts, to prevent approval of an air-quality permit that would allow Hyperion Refining to start work on a $10 billion oil refinery and energy center near Elk Point, S.D.
Holly Bressett, a Sierra Club spokeswoman, said the organization has found several problems with the proposed refinery and the South Dakota Environment and Natural Resources' draft preconstruction air-quality permit.
"The facility would convert agricultural land to industrial use," Bressett said. "The draft air permit is available now, and there would be significant air pollution emitted from the facility. There doesn't seem to be a discussion on the impacts that the mining (of tar sands oil) would have in Canada. I think it's safe to say the Sierra Club is questioning the designation of this refinery as a green facility."
Dallas, Texas-based Hyperion has said that the proposed refinery and "green" energy center would be the cleanest in the nation. Hyperion would process 400,000 barrels a day of tar sands crude from Alberta into low-sulfur gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Eric Williams, a spokesman for Hyperion, said the company has known all along that the proposed facility would be under a microscope. "The Hyperion Energy Center will be state of the art and the most environmentally sound in the nation," Williams wrote in an e-mail.
Project executive Preston Phillips said last month that DENR strengthened air emission control requirements in the draft permit, creating regulations that would result in emissions that would be 80 percent cleaner than the average California refinery and 90 percent cleaner than the average U.S. refinery.
Bressett, on the other hand, said the company would produce significant air pollution and worries about extreme land-use implications in Canada.
"The Hyperion refinery is set to burn or refine tar sands," Bressett said. "We're working very closely with our sister organization Sierra Club Canada to address the environmental impacts of tar sands mining in Canada."
Oil extracted from the tar sand fields near Fort McMurray in northern Alberta is so thick it must be treated or diluted to flow through a pipeline. Critics contend the "sour'' crude contains a higher sulfur content and more heavy toxic compounds than the lighter "sweet'' crude imported from the Middle East and other regions.
Ed Cable, whose Save Union County group opposes the refinery, said he has been working side by side since July 2007 with the Living River Group, the Vermillion, S.D.-based chapter of the Sierra Club.
"This does indicate the first time National Sierra Club has come in to assist all of us," Cable said. "We're working with them in resisting the air permit. We're reviewing it (the draft permit) right now, and we'll have a consolidated list of comments, questions and concerns back within the appropriate comment period to DENR."
The public has 13 days left to submit questions, comments and concerns to DENR.
Cable said that with the Sierra Club's involvement on a national level, his organization has access to more resources, such as legal staff and experts.
Meanwhile, Save Union County and the Sierra Club have enlisted the services of Jenner and Block, a national law firm with offices in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C., that specializes in environmental law.
"The Sierra Club often employs attorneys and experts in the comment phase of any kind of draft permit," Bressett said. "I think legal options will be considered just as in any other situation, but it's not something I'm able to comment on right now."
Meagan Sexton can be reached at 712-293-4243 or meagansexton@siouxcityjournal.com.
Comment deadline Oct. 13
The public has until Oct. 13 to submit questions, comments or concerns about the South Dakota Environment and Natural Resources' draft air-quality permit for the Hyperion project.
Representatives of Hyperion have said obtaining the air quality permit is the next big step in starting construction of the refinery. If the company gets the go-ahead, construction could start in 2011 and be completed in 2014.
To read submitted letters from the public, visit the DENR Web site, http://www.state.sd.us/denr/hyperion.htm
Holly Bressett, a Sierra Club spokeswoman, said the organization has found several problems with the proposed refinery and the South Dakota Environment and Natural Resources' draft preconstruction air-quality permit.
"The facility would convert agricultural land to industrial use," Bressett said. "The draft air permit is available now, and there would be significant air pollution emitted from the facility. There doesn't seem to be a discussion on the impacts that the mining (of tar sands oil) would have in Canada. I think it's safe to say the Sierra Club is questioning the designation of this refinery as a green facility."
Dallas, Texas-based Hyperion has said that the proposed refinery and "green" energy center would be the cleanest in the nation. Hyperion would process 400,000 barrels a day of tar sands crude from Alberta into low-sulfur gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Eric Williams, a spokesman for Hyperion, said the company has known all along that the proposed facility would be under a microscope. "The Hyperion Energy Center will be state of the art and the most environmentally sound in the nation," Williams wrote in an e-mail.
Project executive Preston Phillips said last month that DENR strengthened air emission control requirements in the draft permit, creating regulations that would result in emissions that would be 80 percent cleaner than the average California refinery and 90 percent cleaner than the average U.S. refinery.
Bressett, on the other hand, said the company would produce significant air pollution and worries about extreme land-use implications in Canada.
"The Hyperion refinery is set to burn or refine tar sands," Bressett said. "We're working very closely with our sister organization Sierra Club Canada to address the environmental impacts of tar sands mining in Canada."
Oil extracted from the tar sand fields near Fort McMurray in northern Alberta is so thick it must be treated or diluted to flow through a pipeline. Critics contend the "sour'' crude contains a higher sulfur content and more heavy toxic compounds than the lighter "sweet'' crude imported from the Middle East and other regions.
Ed Cable, whose Save Union County group opposes the refinery, said he has been working side by side since July 2007 with the Living River Group, the Vermillion, S.D.-based chapter of the Sierra Club.
"This does indicate the first time National Sierra Club has come in to assist all of us," Cable said. "We're working with them in resisting the air permit. We're reviewing it (the draft permit) right now, and we'll have a consolidated list of comments, questions and concerns back within the appropriate comment period to DENR."
The public has 13 days left to submit questions, comments and concerns to DENR.
Cable said that with the Sierra Club's involvement on a national level, his organization has access to more resources, such as legal staff and experts.
Meanwhile, Save Union County and the Sierra Club have enlisted the services of Jenner and Block, a national law firm with offices in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C., that specializes in environmental law.
"The Sierra Club often employs attorneys and experts in the comment phase of any kind of draft permit," Bressett said. "I think legal options will be considered just as in any other situation, but it's not something I'm able to comment on right now."
Meagan Sexton can be reached at 712-293-4243 or meagansexton@siouxcityjournal.com.
Comment deadline Oct. 13
The public has until Oct. 13 to submit questions, comments or concerns about the South Dakota Environment and Natural Resources' draft air-quality permit for the Hyperion project.
Representatives of Hyperion have said obtaining the air quality permit is the next big step in starting construction of the refinery. If the company gets the go-ahead, construction could start in 2011 and be completed in 2014.
To read submitted letters from the public, visit the DENR Web site, http://www.state.sd.us/denr/hyperion.htm
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EPJeff wrote on Oct 8, 2008 9:58 PM:
This is exactly what you did when you stated that the oil industry was in its death throes. Now for the last time, can you present anything to support your statement that the oil industry is in its death throes from a credible source just as I did with the definition of fiasco? I can give you all kinds of citation regarding the life-cycle of an industry. And the oil industry is not even close to dying. "
EPJeff wrote on Oct 8, 2008 9:58 PM:
Here is the definition and synonyms of fiasco along with a citation:
fiasco /fiˈskoʊ or, esp. for 2, -ˈɑskoʊ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[fee-as-koh or, esp. for 2, -ah-skoh]
noun, plural -cos, -coes. 1. a complete and ignominious failure.
2. a round-bottomed glass flask for wine, esp. Chianti, fitted with a woven, protective raffia basket that also enables the bottle to stand upright.
[Origin: 185055; < It: lit., bottle < Gmc (see flask1); sense failure from It phrase far fiasco to fail, lit., to make a bottle, idiom of uncert. orig.]
Synonyms 1. disaster, catastrophe, debacle, flop, bomb
fiasco. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved October 08, 2008, from Dictionary.com website: dictionary.reference.com/browse/fiasco
Now as I previously stated, Hyperion has met success on every task so far. But by definition, Hyperion could no longer be a fiasco after they successfully optioned the land. Your gross exaggeration is nothing more than a lie. There is nothing more to argue about that topic. You are flat wrong end of story.
Continued "
EPJeff wrote on Oct 8, 2008 9:58 PM:
Your venomous tongue has been striking out at people on here long before I ever started posting. From calling Governor Rounds Mikey or little clown on the prairie to insulting the commissioners, and anyone else that states anything positive about Hyperion. Anyone that reads your posts know what I am saying is true.
Now, I have to admit that I envy you. I wish I had a pair of rose colored glasses. I am going to show you the difference between us. You see a person can say anything on here:
the sky is purple,
the moon is made of cheese,
the world is flat, or
Hyperion is a fiasco.
However saying something does not make something fact. There is a distinct between saying something and having that something be a fact. It is ones ability to cross that line that differentiates between fiction and fact. You are the one in error over the definition of fiasco.
Continued "
AnnieO wrote on Oct 8, 2008 5:21 PM:
Correcting another of your errors, fiasco does mean dud, debacle and mess. These are as much definitions of the word as failure which is also a synonym. Synonym being defined as the same meaning,equivalent, and or identical.
Going back on point, it is indeed good news to be joined by the Sierra Club to protect our air. "
EPJeff wrote on Oct 6, 2008 9:22 PM:
Touche. Nice catch. I think now AnnieO can use the terms fiasco, dud, mess, and debacle all at once to describe the Hyperion opposition. "