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Not in my Back Yard ?

A

Anonymous

Guest
Do these folks have a right to fight this- and possibibly delay it for years or actually kill the project :???: Or is the national emergency such that these type projects should be fast-tracked.... :???:

Ag siding with Enviromentalists....Interestingly- thats what happened in our area with all the projects proposed for our former air base- state prison, NG training facility, detention area for Cuban boat people, etc.etc.--they were killed by the farmers/ranchers not wanting anything new coming in....


Farmers fight plans for new oil refinery
Texas company unveils plans for $10 billion oil refinery in South Dakota

By Drew Griffin and Kathleen Johnston
CNN Special Investigations Unit

ELK POINT, South Dakota (CNN) -- Farmland stretches as far as the eye can see -- row upon row of corn stalks waving in the breeze. It's an unlikely place to watch America debate its energy crisis but a battle is raging in this corner of South Dakota over what could be the nation's first new oil refinery in 30 years.

Plans were kept secret for months but residents of Union County have now voted in favor of rezoning land for a $10-billion refinery capable of converting 400,000 barrels of Canadian oil into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel every day.

But while the county as a whole favored the project by a 58 percent majority on June 3, most of the rural voters whose land would be affected by the refinery said no.

"I'll keep fighting it," said farmer Dale Harkness, whose front yard could one day face the refinery, which would also need a pipeline to be built.

He and his wife, Carol, vow to fight in the courts to prevent a project they say is speculative at best, and at worst will pollute the land, creeks and skies of this tiny town for generations to come.

"They will never build here. 150 years from now someone will be enjoying that land and this land," Harkness said, pointing to the property around him. Watch farmers and the local mayor react to the refinery plan »

"They" is a Dallas-based company called Hyperion Energy, which says the plant will be a first-of-its kind "clean" refinery. It has never built a refinery and concedes it doesn't currently have the money to build this one either.

But project executive Preston Phillips said the project is necessary and his group is the one to build it.

"We wouldn't be spending the resources and the time if we didn't think we could," he said.

"We continue to push the ball down the road. There's $4-a-gallon gas at the pump. Crude oil is $120 to $140 a barrel. This project is at the right time today and the United States needs it."

The mayor of Elk Point, Isabel Trobaugh, agrees. She said the refinery would bring in hundreds of permanent jobs and thousands of construction jobs during the six years it takes to build.

Trobaugh, like the rest of her town, has been kept in the dark about the refinery plan, but that has not dampened her enthusiasm.

"They say that's the way big business does it," she said. "When they do their thing they don't want anyone to know they are coming in, so they keep it a secret."

Hyperion's involvement in Elk Point was initially dubbed "the gorilla project" because several large concrete gorilla sculptures were placed in the area now marked out for the refinery when nothing else was known.

But when details about the oil plant emerged, neighbor suddenly became pitted against neighbor, the Harknesses said. Some were willing to sell their land, others wanted to fight the development, Carol Harkness said. Divisions were even obvious in church where neighbors who once worshipped together found themselves unable to sit with one another for even an hour on Sunday, she said.

The initial secrecy by Hyperion created some of the ill will and raises other questions, said Mitch Pugh, editor of the nearby Sioux City Journal.

"I think there are a lot of unknowns," he said. "Those Hyperion people -- not a lot is known about them. They are not big players in the oil market. ... Where are they going to get the money?"

That's a question that Hyperion officials can't -- or won't -- answer. A request to the U.S. government for a guaranteed loan for the $10 billion in construction costs went nowhere. The company itself has mostly been involved in real estate dealings with oil and gas leases, projects that haven't generated the capital needed for the refinery.

Hyperion's chief executive is Albert Huddleston, whose wife, Mary, is the granddaughter of famed oil tycoon H. L. Hunt. A federal lawsuit filed by a former trustee of Huddleston's wife's multimillion-dollar trust claims Huddleston wasted money from that fund. Huddleston has countersued, charging the former trustee with his own fraud.

Huddleston declined to be interviewed by CNN but sent a videotape in which he talked about global politics and Canadian oil among other topics.

He also mentioned how he might build the refinery.

"I made a decision that if you came to me and had no permit for 30 to 35 years then I'm not going to take you seriously because I'm not going to believe that you can get it,'' he said on the videotape.

"So I'm not going to these strategic and financial partners and other people until we have a permit. And if we don't get the permit perhaps people are right: I just don't believe that's the case."


Mayor Trobaugh said she knows Huddleston will build the refinery and has the means to do it. But she's not willing to share the details, even with her constituents.

"No I wouldn't do that," she said. "What he told me was private about his own personal funding and that's not public."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/15/sd.refinery/index.html
 

Mike

Well-known member
Farmers nor Ranchers will never agree on anything.

Usually they'll be split 50-50 on most any subject at hand.

Just my observation.

But if Bush fastracked a deal like this, you'd only whine about him using an abundance of unconstitutional power. :roll:
 

fff

Well-known member
Do you believe in state's rights? Or property rights? If it were your land would you turn it over without a fight, especially with so little being made public about the project? You lose your land and then Hyperion can't get funding? A court will probably make the final decision.
 

backhoeboogie

Well-known member
fff said:
Do you believe in state's rights? Or property rights?

Absolutely I do. They put a gas plant across the river from me. It is a little noisy.

Worse than the gas plant is the county road going through the property. I'd fight that tooth and nail all over again. Much worse situation.

Good thing it is not a nuke plant. You'd have out of staters jumping on the bandwagon too.

I thought the discussion was about folks nearby and not about folks losing their own land.

They recently had similar things going on in the metro-plex. A lady thinned trees on her property. All of those folks living in $400K homes on quarter acre lots adjoining the farm were fighting mad at the lady for clearing trees off of her own property.

What I do with my own farm is my business so long as I don't break any laws. Some folks hate the smell of cow poop and complain when they drive by on a road that di-sects my property. To bad.
 

fff

Well-known member
This lead me to believe they are going to need to acquire land somehow.

But when details about the oil plant emerged, neighbor suddenly became pitted against neighbor, the Harknesses said. Some were willing to sell their land, others wanted to fight the development, Carol Harkness said. Divisions were even obvious in church where neighbors who once worshipped together found themselves unable to sit with one another for even an hour on Sunday, she said.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/15/sd.refinery/index.html
 

backhoeboogie

Well-known member
fff said:
This lead me to believe they are going to need to acquire land somehow.

You may be exactly correct.

The negative I see is that property taxes will go up for all as that area is developed. Employees will need housing and wares which will bring in all the shopping centers and out of state carpet baggers. The whole culture will be destroyed just like it was here. Life will never be the same for anyone. Locals will be a minority in their community.

People living in poverty may acquire jobs and better their life. Then there are those who want to live life as a bum and you can't change them no matter what.
 

schnurrbart

Well-known member
Is this guy an enviromental wacko? I thought they were the only ones opposing new refineries. He is a farmer so the odds are pretty good that he is also a rightwinger.
 

PrairieQueen

Well-known member
schnurrbart said:
Is this guy an enviromental wacko? I thought they were the only ones opposing new refineries. He is a farmer so the odds are pretty good that he is also a rightwinger.

Most farmers I know are Democrats - subsidies and all.

If they are not taking the land by condemnation, then the land owners have a right to sell. Being in the area of the proposed Pinon Canyon Expansion we are all a little sensitive to this kind of stuff. But I did not read anything in the article that implied they were going to use condemnation to get the land. If they can prove that there will be negative environmental influences to the adjoining land (I am assuming an environmental impact study will need to be done) then that should be taken into consideration also. Adjoining land will need to be purchased or damages paid.

I do think it is kind of funny that so many of these little communities complain about drying up but then don't want new industry and business. But on the other hand, is it fair for these rural communities to only get the "dirty" industries for lack of no body else wanting them.

We were sold around here on what great things the prisons and hog farms would do to bolster the economies - it did not. And only added to the welfare rolls as the families of the prisoners usually follow to be close. Did not do much for the school systems either.

All in all though, it seems like these communities would be wanting some of this industry.
 

PrairieQueen

Well-known member
kolanuraven said:
I wonder how/if Eminent Domain will come into all this in the future?

You mean as the area develops for roads and such? Not sure. But we can't have it both ways - keep our little niche communities but then complain there is no good work around. I wonder how many this plant would employ and what kind of salaries. I think that would be relevant also.

I might add there is a large wind farm in this area also - very much a win for the land owners. Now I know of one house located directly under this farm - not sure if they were paid damages for any property devaluation.

They are also going to build a new coal power plant. The company purchased all the land and water from willing sellers. I am assuming this would be the case with this refinery - also assuming of course that the company could do this. I do not think is was fought very hard in the area- at least I didn't hear of it.

There was also suppose to be a new ethanol plant going in by one of the feedlots, but that is on hold last I heard.

Anyway, I can also sympathize with Aplus about the plant going in next to my property. I would be really disappointed. I like my views of wide open spaces. It might very well have a negative impact on my property. It would be tough.
 
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