[MCN] Gypsum, CO Biomass Plant Update: Fires, ‘fraudulent transfers’ & ‘civil conspiracy’…Oh my!

[Matthew Koehler]

Remember, a few years ago the University of Montana wanted to spend nearly
$20 million dollars to construct a wood-burning biomass plant right in the
middle of the University of Montana campus in very close proximity to the
freshman dorms.

Good thing that never happened, but the Montana timber industry and many
elected officials are still pushing for taxpayer-subsidized wood-burning
biomass facilities throughout Montana.

Read on to see why these biomass plants are not always all they are cracked
up to be.


Gypsum, CO Biomass Plant Update: Fires, ‘fraudulent transfers’ & ‘civil
conspiracy’…Oh my!
<http://forestpolicypub.com/2015/10/20/gypsum-co-biomass-plant-update-fires-fraudulent-transfers-civil-conspiracy-oh-my/>

LINK:
http://forestpolicypub.com/2015/10/20/gypsum-co-biomass-plant-update-fires-fraudulent-transfers-civil-conspiracy-oh-my/

Over the past few years this blog has covered a few articles
<http://forestpolicypub.com/?s=Gypsum%2C+Colorado&submit=Search> related to
the Gypsum biomass plant in Colorado.

In fact, back in August 2013 this blog shared an article
<http://forestpolicypub.com/2013/08/16/senator-udall-on-biomass-plant-in-gypsum/>
in
which “U.S. Sen. Mark Udall said the Gypsum biomass power plant is a
“win-win-win” project when he and state Sen. Gail Schwartz toured the
plant’s construction site on Friday afternoon.”

So what’s happened since that August 2013 proclamation of a “win-win-win?”

Well, according to an article
<http://www.energyjustice.net/content/biomass-energy-growing-pains> written
by Josh Schlossberg with the Biomass Monitor:

Eagle Valley Clean Energy, an 11.5-megawatt biomass power facility in
Gypsum, Colorado started operating in December 2013, only to have its
conveyor belt catch fire
<http://www.postindependent.com/news/15600919-113/gypsum-biomass-power-plant-still-off-line-after-december-fire>
in
December 2014. Spokespersons said the facility would be back online
shortly, yet as of October, it’s still offline. There have been no further
media reports investigating why the facility still isn’t operating, and
multiple calls and emails to the facility from *The Biomass Monitor *were
not returned.

Another thorn in Eagle Valley’s claw is a lawsuit
<https://dockets.justia.com/docket/colorado/codce/1:2015cv01252/156554> filed
against the company in U.S. District Court in June 2015 by Wellons, Inc.,
an Oregon-based corporation that designed and built the biomass facility.

Wellons is suing Eagle Valley Clean Energy for $11,799,864 for breach of
contract, accusing the company of “fraudulent transfers” and “civil
conspiracy,” involving the transferring of $18.5 million of federal
subsidies to “insider” parties in an alleged effort to hide the money. The
money was issued to the facility from the federal government under Section
of 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), also known as
the Stimulus, involving payments to reimburse companies building renewable
energy facilities.

Wellons claims that, on top of the nearly twelve million dollars Eagle
Valley must pay them, they are owed past due interest of $1,185,433.56,
with debt accruing at $3254.90 per day.

Another bump in the road for Eagle Valley involves the Chapter 11
bankcruptcy
<http://www.bloomberg.com/Research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=290825398>
of
the logging contractor that provides them the trees to fuel the facility,
West Range Reclamation. West Range has provided nearly all of the wood to
the facility since it opened, mostly from beetle-killed lodgepole pine from
the White River National Forest.

Ouch, eh? So essentially every single thing celebrated before the Gypsum
Biomass Plant was built turned out – in reality (and in only a short 2 year
timeframe) – to be a tremendous disaster. Hopefully the media in Colorado
will do a follow up investigation, because as Schlossberg pointed out
above, “There have been no further media reports investigating why the
facility still isn’t operating, and multiple calls and emails to the
facility from *The Biomass Monitor *were not returned.”

Make sure to check out the rest of Schlossberg’s article
<http://www.energyjustice.net/content/biomass-energy-growing-pains> to read
about more recent growing pains with other wood-burning biomass plants in
Florida, Wisconsin, Texas and Hawaii.
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