Construction continues for ethanol plant

Thursday, October 26, 2006
Roachdale Elementary third grader Cody Asher (right) gives police dog Senna a well-deserved scratch behind her ears after a dog demonstration given by Putnam County K-9 Officer Mike Johnson (left) at the school Wednesday. Johnson and Senna came down to the school to talk to the students about drugs, being drug-free and provided them with demonstrations on Senna's many skills.

Officials with Altra Indiana LLC recently announced development on the 147-acre ethanol production facility in Cloverdale is ongoing.

The facility -- a $170 million project -- is expected to be one of the state's largest ethanol production services upon completion.

Director of Greencastle/ Putnam County Develop-ment Center Bill Dory said construction at the site began in the spring.

"They've been working down there all summer," Dory said.

Recently, the site went under a name change. It was originally called Putnam Ethanol, then Indiana Corn Products. The company is now named Altra Indiana LLC. Altra Indiana took over official operations in the fall, Dory said.

"That's not unusual when you're funding a project that is this complex," Dory said.

Currently, the company plans to build 500 million gallons per year of biofuel production across the nation through the acquisition and enhancement of existing operating assets.

According to Altra officials, the facility in Cloverdale is expected to benefit from the area's dairy cow population and access to railroads and truck routes to both Midwestern and southern fuel distribution centers.

Following completion, the Cloverdale plant is expected to reach 88 million gallons per year of initial ethanol capacity, with production scheduled to commence late in 2007.

In addition, the new plant, according to Altra officials, is anticipated to create 45 full-time jobs in the area while generating millions of dollars for the area.

"Certainly, a lot of farmers in the area will have an opportunity to sell corn to the plant," Dory said.

The Cloverdale site was announced in June 2005. At the time of the original announcement, the plant was expected to bring 40 new jobs to Putnam County and cost $120 million.

The plant plans on using advances in technology used to mill and process corn, which will produce carbon dioxide, corn germ, corn fiber, and corn protein concentrate, in addition to ethanol.

Altra Indiana LLC, is a subsidiary of California-based Altra Inc., a developer of renewable fuel projects. The company is acquiring and developing a portfolio of renewable energy projects. It is focused on the production and sale of ethanol and biodiesel fuels.

The company owns and operates California's only large scale operating ethanol plant, in Goshen, Calif. It is also currently constructing a 60 million gallon per year facility in Ohio, which is expected to be completed in 2007, and has started construction of a 70 million gallons per year facility in Nebraska, which is expected to be completed in 2007 as well.

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