Staff Writer

CARLISLE - Union County residents will have another chance to make their feelings known about the proposed ethanol plant during a public hearing this evening at the Carlisle Town Hall.

Karen Lee, public information specialist for DHEC, said the hearing will differ from the community meeting the agency held in Carlisle on Aug. 25. During that meeting, the public was able to ask DHEC officials and representatives of Osage Bio Energy, the company building the facility, questions about the proposed ethanol plant.

DHEC will also conduct the public hearing, but Mrs. Lee said officials will not answer any questions. Instead, questions and comments made at the public hearing will be recorded by a court reporter. They will then later be reviewed by DHEC which will issue a “department decision” which will includes answers to any and all questions.

Mrs. Lee said DHEC will accept written questions and comments through Sept. 22. These should be mailed to DHEC, 2600 Bull St., Columbia, S.C. 29201, Attn: Karen Lee.

Tonight's hearing is the next step in the permitting application process for the proposed Congaree Bio Energy ethanol plant. The application states that the plant will produce 68.2 million gallons of ethanol a year using barley, wheat, corn or milo.

During the Aug. 25 community meeting, it was pointed out that when first announced, the proposed facility was touted as a barley plant. Company officials, however, said that while barley is their first choice, the plant will be designed to allow it to also use wheat, corn or milo. This would allow the plant to remain in operation if barley is not available in the region due to drought. The officials said the company might, however, import barley from Canada rather than use corn from the Midwest until regional barley production resumed.

Concerns were also voiced about odors and pollution but company officials said the plant will use a drying process designed to reduce any odors. Any remaining odors would be burned off in a thermal oxidizer.

Questions were also raised about the amount of traffic going in and out of the proposed plant. Information from a study by Osage provided by an official with the SC Department of Transportation in Chester showed 304 vehicles a day during peak periods. The permit application states that 72,664 trucks will visit the plant a year, but officials said this will depend on the percentage of deliveries made by rail and the size of the trucks involved. They said if large hopper bottom trucks are used rather than dump trucks this could reduce the amount of traffic.

Plans call for the proposed plant to get steam, water and waste water treatment from Carlisle Finishing and its potable water from the Town of Carlisle. Officials were also asked if the company would hire locally. They said that usually the only person brought in from outside the community is the plant manager. The rest of the staff is hired from, first, the local community, and then from within a 20- to 25-mile radius of the plant.