PEMBROKE — A proposed biodiesel manufacturing plant that is opposed by some people because of plans to locate it near homes and Purnell Swett High School is being touted as potentially saving the Public Schools of Robeson County up to 75 cents a gallon for fuel.
“Yes, biodiesel is a green energy source, and that’s a positive thing,” said Raymond Cummings, a Robeson County commissioner and Transportation director for the public schools. “But in deciding if a conditional-use permit should be granted for the facility, we (commissioners) have to be sensitive to the feelings of the community. Community harmony is extremely important in the decision-making process.”
Eric T. Locklear has applied for a conditional-use permit to operate the business on about three acres of a 10-acre tract on Kessie Drive. The property, which is owned by Locklear’s family, is adjacent to Purnell Swett High School’s soccer field and about 500 feet from the school building. It also is located only about 100 feet from the back door of the home of Barbara Collins, one of several residents opposing the facility who contend it would be a health and safety hazard.
Biodiesel is produced when methanol and glycerin react with vegetable oil or animal fat. A perusal of websites containing information about biodiesel production provides numerous accounts of fires that have resulted when methanol is not handled properly.
On Thursday, about 30 people met at the West Robeson Methodist Church to develop a plan for convincing county commissioners not to allow the facility on Kessie Drive.
Locklear told The Robesonian that he attended the meeting, but was denied the opportunity to “explain his business.” He said that he did speak with some of those present individually, and that afterward some were more comfortable that the facility would not be as a threat.
“As a finished product, biodiesel is good for the environment,” Collins said last week. “It’s the manufacturing process that we are worried about.”
Collins’ husband Stanley Knick, director of the Native American Resource Center at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, agreed.
“In the abstract, bio-fuels are a good idea as a replacement for fossil fuels,” he said. “Entrepreneurial ideas for new business start-ups in Robeson County are also a good idea … . However this location … is just not the right place, not the safe place for biodiesel production.
“… Every single company that ever had a chemical fire, that ever had a chemical explosion, that ever had a toxic spill or a gaseous release of any harmful substance swore when they were applying for permits that there was absolutely no danger to human health or the environment, and that nothing bad could ever happen,” Knick said.
In December, the county commissioners denied the permit. Locklear won an appeal to the county’s Zoning Board after providing more information. Locklear is scheduled to go before the commissioners on Feb. 6 to request the conditional-use permit.
Locklear formed Indigenous Bio-Solutions LLC, which employs himself, his wife and his father. The proposal calls for the construction of a 25-foot-by-30-foot building. Traffic to the site would be limited, Locklear said, because the biodiesel would be delivered to customers.
Locklear said that the facility could produce up to 270 gallons of biodiesel a day, but at no time would more than 1,000 gallons be stored at the site. He said the facility would be regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources once the sale of fuel begins.
“There are citizens in Robeson County making biodiesel at home right now,” Locklear said. “They don’t sell it, so they don’t need a conditional-use permit.”
Locklear downplayed down the danger.
“Methanol does need to be handled with care, but with no more precautions than you should use when handling gasoline at home or at the gas pump,” he said.
According to the 28-year-old Locklear, he has experience in the fields of chemistry, biology, physics and lab design. He said he has five years of experience as a research and development chemical engineer, more than three years of experience as an environmental scientist, and training and certification in the area of handling hazardous chemicals. He is employed by Porter Scientific in Pembroke, but that company is not involved with Locklear’s biodiesel manufacturing company.
Locklear hopes to see his business grow so he can afford to relocate to an area in Robeson County that is zoned for industrial use. He said he hopes to enter into a contract with the Public Schools of Robeson County to provide biodiesel for the system’s buses, saying it could save the system 50 t0 75 cents a gallon.
Property owners near the proposed manufacturing plant have also raised concerns about what effect the facility could have on property values and a person’s ability to obtain and maintain homeowner’s insurance.
“I have spoken to numerous insurance agents and they all tell me the same thing,” Locklear said. “If equipment is not on a neighbor’s property, it will not affect their homeowner’s insurance.”
Reach staff writer Bob Shiles@910-272-6117 or bshiles@heartlandpublications.com.
The applicant’s own document describing the proposed project states with regard to methanol (in Section 8 – Exposure Controls, Personal Protection): that methanol “cannot be made non-poisonous;” and that it is “only very slowly eliminated from the body. Because of this slow elimination, methanol should be regarded as a cumulative poison.” This clearly means that over time the accumulation of small amounts of methanol could have serious long-term health effects. The most vulnerable to this cumulative poisoning effect would be children and the elderly.
About glycerine: Glycerine is clear and odorless, but according to the University of California it can cause irritation of the eyes and skin, and can be flammable and explosive. Over-exposure to glycerine can cause coughing, difficult breathing, headache, nausea, vomiting, convulsions and unconsciousness. The Dow Chemical Company warns that in case of fire involving glycerine the area should be isolated. How could you possibly isolate an open area so close to neighboring residences, just across a fence from a public school athletic field and no more than 3-500 feet from the hundreds of public school students at Purnell Swett High School?
Dow Chemical also warns that at temperatures above 130 degrees (such as in a fire), glycerine decomposes, and that its decomposition products include acrolein, a highly toxic and potentially lethal acrylaldehyde.
MDL1968, you are correct. Methanol is considered safer to handle than Gasoline. Much safer as a matter of fact. I just did the research.
UNCP has a Biodiesel Processor on its campus?? I just learned that through research today. Why aren't they screaming about that? Around thousands of student’s everyday.
This guy looks qualified to run this business. He has my support.
This is exactly what "made in America" is all about.
Good Luck Eric!!
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Humco-Skin-Protectant-Glycerin-Usp-6-oz/10417582
The only way my comment on public assistance would be offensive is if you were on public assistance so thanks for proving my point.
Here are the facts like it or not, admit it or not.
1-60% of this county is on public assistance of some from, that figure is higher in the area in question. So the odds are that at least 6 out of 10 people complaining are recieving assistance.
2-Methanol is safer to produce and handle than the gas you handle on a daily basis. The ingredients being used are in many or the items you utilize or have in your home.
You do your research.
I had hoped that you would have presented both sides - you didn't - you minimized the potential safety threats and completely disregarded the information about health hazards we provided. Your reporter was given names of other concerned citizens none of which were given the opportunity to express their opposition to this project.
Eric Locklear's own business plan has a section of the hazards of methanol and glycerine in the processing of biodiesel fuel.
What I hoped to see was both sides of this issue and you completely dismissed our side.
We provided copious amounts of documentation about both and health and safety effects of producing biodiesel - and you disregarded that information. For example, Methanol is extremely flammable and explosive and can cause blindness, nerve damage and even death; glycerin can cause vomiting, convulsions and unconsciousness, and in case of fire can decompose and produce acrolein, another potentially deadly chemical.
A quick trip to the EPA or CDC websites would have given you ample information about the poisonous effects of methanol and glycerine. And can you imagine a fire next door to your house with 1000 gallons of fuel?
Again, I naively believed this story would be fair to both sides - it was not.
Your not the first business owner to have neighbors complain that what your doing will hurt them, and their property. I got my Conditional Use Permit, and I hope you get yours. Good luck young man, you got a big hill to climb with this crowd.