News

January 11, 2009

Dupont OKs rail facility for ethanol shipments

The borough council sees reduced traffic, additional jobs and a bigger tax base as benefits.

By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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County officials on Thursday gave conditional approval for a plan to build a rail facility in Dupont that will accept ethanol shipments destined for a fuel holding facility in Pittston Township.

The Scranton-Altoona Terminals Corp. in Harrisburg wants to construct a 600-square-foot office building, a 2,000-square-foot warehouse, a rail canopy, a two-bay loading rack, a vapor recovery unit and an access roadway on 18.5 acres in the borough to receive and temporarily hold shipments of the flammable liquid.

A form of alcohol, ethanol is a biofuel made from corn and other crops; its increasing use as an additive to gasoline is based on requirements of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and other federal energy laws.

Scranton-Altoona has been trucking in shipments of ethanol to a gasoline storage facility on Suscon Road in Pittston Township.

The company is proposing to ship the biofuel to Dupont by train and load it into tanker trucks for a much shorter trip to the Suscon Road facility, significantly decreasing truck traffic in the area. A plan to build a pipeline between the two facilities was scrapped because of problems with terrain and cost, project engineer Eric Brinser told the Luzerne County Planning Commission on Thursday.

At its meeting, commission members approved final land subdivision plans for the project on condition that the company receives approval from local utility companies and the Luzerne Conservation District and provides a $527,214 security guarantee within six months.

The conservation district requires satisfactory National Poisoning Data System and Erosion and Sediment Control plans.

Dupont Council President Stanley Knick said he’s satisfied with the company’s development plans.

“Dupont is all for it. There will be less trucks coming through town. The distance they have to truck it is less than a mile. And it’s mandated by the government, anyway, so it has to be done. And it will mean more jobs and a larger tax base,” Knick said.

Knick also said Scranton-Altoona has pledged to work with the Dupont Fire Co. to make sure firefighters have proper training in handling a potential ethanol-based fire or spill.

Brinser told the commission that the facility will receive an average of three train cars of ethanol per day.

Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 459-2005.

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