Riverbank panel balks at biofuels project at old ammo plant. Here’s the reason why
Traffic concerns, including as many as 86 tanker trucks a day being added to Riverbank roads, prompted the city Planning Commission to reject the latest plan for making biofuels at the former Army ammunition plant.
Aemetis Inc. said it would ask the City Council to reverse the Tuesday evening vote. The company aims to make jet and truck fuel from animal fats and food-based oils, employing about 50 people at the Claus Road site.
Aemetis already has permission to produce the fuels from orchard trees and other woody waste. Formulating them has proven to be complicated, so the fats-and-oils system would start first, said Jarrett Hollis, vice president for projects at Aemetis.
Commissioners John Dinan, Joan Stewart and Taide Zamora voted against the permit. Chairwoman Natasha Basso and member Benjamin Reuben supported it.
The military built the plant during World War II to process aluminum for aircraft. It later made ammunition and operated until 2010. The site has undergone extensive cleanup of toxic chemicals.
Riverbank has promoted the property as a hub for biofuels, recycling and other green industries. Aemetis hopes to be operating by 2025.
The Cupertino-based company already has a Keyes location that has brewed ethanol from Midwestern corn since 2011. Since last year, that site also has supplied PG&E with gas made from local dairy manure.
Aemetis has become a key local player in the effort to reduce climate-changing emissions. Food-based fats and oils can supplant fossil fuels that spew massive amounts of carbon. The area’s nut and fruit trees have long been burned in the open after their productive lives ended.
“We at Aemetis are committed to assisting in the transition by being not only the leading producer of low-carbon fuels, but also by developing a circular low-carbon economy,” Hollis told the commission.
Some of the fats and oils could come from rendering plants in and near California. Aemetis also plans to use tallow from its own plant in Kakinada, India, delivered by ship to the United States.
North County Corridor will relieve traffic in the area
The Riverbank operation would be supplied via local roads and rail. An estimated 16 rail cars per day would arrive, along with 68 container trucks or 86 tanker trucks.
Dinan cited the current traffic on Claribel Road in opposing the project. Basso noted that it will be relieved in a few years by an early segment of the North County Corridor. A city staff report said a traffic study would identify improvements Aemetis could fund at the plant entrance.
Zamora questioned whether Riverbank’s railroads have enough capacity. It is along a major route for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. The former ammunition plant is served by the Sierra Northern Railway, which runs from Riverbank to the Sonora area.
Aemetis also aims to make Riverbank the site of another climate measure: storing carbon deep underground. It would come from power plants and other sources.
The company has permission to drill a well that allows examination of the conditions about 7,000 to 8,000 feet deep. An operating permit would follow if the idea proves worthy.
This was not part of Tuesday’s agenda item, but critics mentioned it anyway in questioning the fats-and-oil plan.
Riverbank allows 10 days to appeal Planning Commission decisions to the City Council. A vote could happen as soon as Sept. 12.
This story was originally published August 16, 2023 at 1:22 PM.
