18th November 2006

Two companies planning to build plants that process canola seed into oil and biodiesel fuel are shifting gears.

Wi BioFuels Inc., an Apache Junction, Ariz.-based company affiliated with Western Industrial, originally planned to locate a plant in Clarkston, Wash., but is now negotiating the purchase of more than eight acres of land in Spokane County. The acreage is both inside Spangle and immediately outside of that town south of Spokane.Bruce Nave, president Wi BioFuels Inc., said company officials are in the midst of meetings with Spokane County and Washington state Department of Ecology to discuss environmental requirements for the plant. They're close to finalizing the land purchase, he said.

"We've negotiated price already. We're negotiating terms," Nave said.
In addition, Tim King, a local resident who put his Newman Lake home up as collateral to enter the biodiesel business, has joined forces with Losonoco, Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Losonoco formed three years ago and is in the process of developing plants that produce renewable energy. King, who has become vice president of Losonoco, said the company will bring significant funding to the project.

Biodiesel has increasingly been in the news as legislators put state funding behind the fuel source. Because the fuel is created from oil extracted from seed crops, such as soybeans and canola, it is gaining ground as a viable alternative to reliance on fossil fuels and is viewed as a possible boon to the state economy.

Nave, of Wi BioFuels, said the company chose to look at Spangle because the land includes several key buildings that would save money on construction costs. Among the structures are seed storage facilities with more than 1.3 million bushels of storage capacity.

What's more, "Spangle was just awfully close to Spokane and that was a large benefit," Nave said.

"We've gone over everything with the city of Spangle. We've got their full support."

Nave said the company has already invested $3 million in equipment and hopes to start extracting oil in February. The business will employ about 25 people, he said.

In locating in Spangle instead of Clarkston, Wi BioFuels is ineligible for $778,869 in low-interest loans that state lawmakers had pledged to the Port of Whitman County and Wi BioFuels for the project.

Losonoco is now looking at the Clarkston location, in addition to several others in Washington and the Pacific Northwest, said Don Markley, chief operating officer for the company.

The company is interested in establishing several plants that would be capable of processing and refining 200 tons of canola oil a day, Markley said.

Joe Poire, executive director of the Port of Whitman County, said the port has negotiated with four companies that have expressed interest in establishing biodiesel processing operations in Clarkston.

Poire has contacted the state agency in charge of disbursing the loan to ask if another biodiesel company could qualify for the money. However, it hasn't yet been determined if the loan is still on the table.