Big River Resources plans to increase ethanol production to 70 million gallons per year
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
BOYCEVILLE — Big River Resources Boyceville LLC has submitted a permit application to the state Department of Natural Resources to increase ethanol production from 60 million gallons per year to 70 million gallons per year.
Big River Resources operates the ethanol plant located north of state Highway 170 between Wheeler and Boyceville.
The DNR has made a preliminary determination that the Big River Resources application meets state and federal air pollution control requirements and the permit should be approved, according to a notice of an air pollution control permit application review from the DNR postmarked October 15.
According to the permit application dated May 29, 2019, the increase from 60 million gallons per year to 70 million gallons “equates to an increase in production of 16.67 percent. The reason for the increase is the result of the advancements in enzymes and yeasts that increase the ethanol produced in the fermentation process.”
The application letter goes on to say, “the advances in enzymes and yeasts are also positively impacting the water quality that is recovered for reuse at the front-end of the plant. The use of the biomethanator to clean the water for reuse is no longer required. BRRB will be decommissioning the biomethanator (P70) and with its removal, the biomethanator flare (C70 & S70) will also be decommissioned. The biomethanator flare can be removed from the permit.”
The permit application, the DNR’s analysis and the draft permit can be reviewed at the Department of Natural Resources Bureau of Air Management Headquarters, Seventh Floor, 101 South Webster Street, Madison, Wisconsin, 53703, and at the West Central Region Headquarters, 1300 W. Clairemont Avenue, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 54701.
The information is available, too, for downloading at www.dnr.wi.gov/topic/AirPermits/search.html.
For questions on the permit application, the DNR’s analysis and the draft permit or to make arrangements to review the documents, you can contact Paul Yeung at 608-266-0672 or by e-mail at Paul.Yeung@wisconsin.gov.
Anyone wishing to submit written comments on the permit application or the DNR’s review — or anyone wishing to request a public hearing — should do so within within 30 days of the notice.
According to the DNR’s website, the notice was published October 17, 2019.
If a public hearing is requested, the person making the request shall indicate their interest in the permit and the reasons why a public hearing is warranted.
Comments or a request for a hearing should be mailed to: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Air Management, 101 S. Webster Street, Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707-7921. Attn: Paul Yeung.
All comments received by the DNR prior to the close of the comment period, or at a public hearing if one is held, will be considered before making a final decision on the proposed project.
For Part-70 sources, the revised operation permit will not be issued until the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has an opportunity for review.
Any person can petition the EPA within 60 days after EPA’s 45-day review period expires to make an objection to the permit revision. Unless the EPA objects in writing within the EPA’s 45-day review period, the DNR will issue the final operation permit as proposed.
