By Mashoka Maimona, from www.theobserver.ca The Observer
SOMBRA — Trains hauling restaurant grease — specifically used vegetable oil and animal fat — will soon be chugging into Sombra as a new biodiesel company opened its doors to the public Friday.
While it awaits approval from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Methes Energies Canada held its grand opening Friday at the Sombra site on Holt Line West.
Members of the public were invited to tour the production process of the nine-hectare facility at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, on International Biodiesel Day.
Nicholas Ng, director of business development, said the purpose of the tours was to ensure the public that Menthes, with 15 employees, is a “light industrial process” without smokestacks, odour or disrupting sounds.
St. Clair Township, Lambton County, and Walpole Island officials have been continually consulted since the Mississauga-based Methes Energies bought the site in 2008, he said.
“Communication with the public is integral because we are now part of the community,” said Ng, also the company’s co-founder.
The 2,000-square-foot dry wash processors at the facility are small compared to other biodiesel plants, thus reducing the environmental footprint, he said.
The plant will produce biodiesel and byproduct glycerol, used in cosmetic products, from pork and beef fat and used cooking oil, methanol and a base catalyst.
A Canadian national ecoEnergy program requires that 2% of all diesel fuel and heating distillate oil come from renewables.
Roughly one litre of animal fat or grease produces one litre of the environmentally friendly biodiesel.
The site was chosen for its easy accessibility and existing infrastructure, said plant manager Keith Grafton, being in the same corridor as some of the largest oil refineries in Ontario and near rail lines.
The site is ready for production and will be up and running by summer’s end, said Ng, who expects to get EPA approval within 30 days.
Looking south for industry consumers, Methes applied as a foreign renewable fuel producer.
About 10 leased rail cars will transport raw materials in and finished products out of the facility weekly — about one million litres of biodiesel.
The plant is expected to produce 50 million litres of the biodegradable product annually.
Methes is going to be the third biodiesel company in North America to be publicly traded, an accomplishment for “a small company like us,” Michel Laporte, President of Methes Energies International Ltd. said at the grand opening.
A Chinook chemical plant that formerly occupied the site gained notoriety as one of Ontario’s worst polluters amid complaints of odour or noise.
Lambton County warden Steve Arnold said Methes’ vision of breathing new life into the site has been welcomed by the community.
“They have hit a home run,” said Arnold, who is also the mayor of St. Clair Township.
“Their vision for a brownfield site is proper, especially since they’re taking it one step further by looking at the green energy aspect. Their fortitude proves they will run a successful operation.”
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