Mount Vernon, Ind. ethanol plant owner says it will easily meet federal deadline

Illinois-based Aventine Renewable Energy says it will easily meet a federal deadline to have its Mount Vernon, Ind. ethanol plant up and running.

"We're totally on track," said Tom Manuel, Aventine's chief executive officer.

In February, the Environmental Protection Agency enacted new rules regarding renewable fuels. Aventine's Mount Vernon plant is eligible to be grandfathered in under the previous rules, as long as the plant is up and running by the federal deadline.

Originally, that deadline was Sept. 21, but the EPA has pushed back the deadline to Dec. 19.

The new deadline gives Aventine a bit more breathing room to complete what has been in some respects an unusual project.

Aventine began building the Mount Vernon plant in late 2007. A year later, when the site was about 80 percent finished, Aventine ran into financial difficulties and construction ground to a halt. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2009.

While Aventine worked through its financial difficulties the Mount Vernon construction site (and a sister site in Nebraska) sat idle.

Aventine emerged from bankruptcy and resumed work on the site in late March. A new general contractor, Minnesota-based Fagan, Inc. took over the job, facing a short deadline to finish the project so that it would qualify for grandfathered status.

Now with the extended deadline, Manuel said, "we've got all the time in the world."

Manuel said the plant's gas and water utilities have been hooked up and Aventine has hired most of the employees it will need to run the plant. As of last week, Manuel said, workers were pumping water through the plant's pipes so they could identify and plug leaks.

The plant could be producing ethanol as early as November, Manuel said.

source: courierpress