Riverbank OKs biofuels at old ammo plant. Critics warn of another Modesto Tallow
Aemetis Inc. won approval Tuesday night for its latest biofuel plan in Riverbank, over concerns about pollution and traffic.
The City Council voted 5-0 for the project, to be built at the former Army ammunition plant. It will produce jet and truck fuels from used vegetable oils and animal fats.
The Cupertino-based company already had permission to make the fuels from discarded orchard trees and other woody waste. That process is taking longer than expected to perfect, a spokesman said last month.
The site will employ about 50 people, turning wastes into alternatives to climate-harming fuels. It could be running by 2025.
The Riverbank Planning Commission rejected the application on Aug. 15. Aemetis appealed that decision to the council.
’We need these green projects’
About 50 people attended Tuesday’s meeting, including union leaders who noted the many construction jobs that await.
“We need these green projects as a transition from fossil fuels to a more sustainable future,” said Tyler Powell, president of Local 684 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Opponents warned of increased traffic in and out of the Claus Road site. Aemetis projects a daily average of 86 tanker trucks, along with 16 rail cars.
Critics also said the process could produce odors and other ill effects in the area.
“Why would you want to bring that pollution into our neighborhoods?” said Charlotte Eaton, who owns property across from the plant.
The council heard over Zoom from activist Bianca Lopez, co-founder of Valley Improvement Projects. She said she lives near the railroad tracks, where idling freight trains already foul the air.
“So while I am in support of jobs, and green jobs, and union jobs and well-paying jobs, this is not a green business,” Lopez said.
Tallow from India is part of plan
Aemetis plans to get the fats and oils from various domestic sources, along with tallow from its plant in India. This substance is produced by rendering animal carcasses and restaurant grease.
That detail prompted some people Tuesday to evoke Modesto Tallow Co., which operated off Crows Landing Road until 2006. The closure followed decades of complaints about the stench.
The Aemetis tallow is required to be odorless, Executive Vice President Andy Foster told the council.
“It’s coming here refined,” he said. “It’s not raw tallow and this is not a tallow rendering facility.”
The tallow will be delivered by ship to the West Coast.
Riverbank plant dates to World War II
The plant was built in 1942 to process aluminum for the military. It later made ammunition and closed in 2010. New businesses moved in after the Army cleaned up toxic chemicals in the soil.
Aemetis supporters said the increased truck traffic could be handled in part by improvements to Claribel near the plant entrance. They also noted the expected completion in a few years of the North County Corridor’s first phase, from Claribel to Oakdale Road.
The train shipments will be on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which bisects Riverbank. It connects to the old ammo plant via the Sierra Northern Railway.
Aemetis already has a Keyes plant that produces ethanol from Midwestern corn. It recently added a system that supplies PG&E with gas from dairy cattle manure.
