Biodiesel facility planned at West St. Mary port

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A facility to turn soybean oil into biodiesel fuel is scheduled to open next year at the Port of West St. Mary near Franklin.

The production plant initially would produce 5 million gallons of the alternative fuel a year but is projected to ramp up to 20 million gallons annually, said New Iberia lawyer David Groner, one of the partners in the company backing the project.

The location at the port should allow the plant to serve the offshore drilling and commercial fishing industries, both dependent on large amounts of diesel to power boats and generators.

“We plan on working hand and hand with the drilling industry,” he said. “All the boats that run in the Gulf use diesel.”

Groner’s partner in the project is Mike Valls, who has a background in the offshore service industry.

Biodiesel, which can run in most new diesel engines and is sold in varying blends with conventional diesel, is made from agricultural products.

Groner said the Franklin facility will start off using soybean oil but could adapt to use other raw materials, such as palm oil or canola oil.

A handful of other biodiesel plants have been proposed in Louisiana; Allegro Biodiesel of California opened Louisiana’s first plant last year in Grant Parish.