SUGGESTIONS MADE TO
BROIN ULTIMATE ETHANOL
If the intention is be a good neighbor and make money for the county, then please use the following suggestions to make the ethanol plant better for everyone.
Working toward a solution is our goal. If the plant is not willing to work together for the best solution, maybe they are not right for our city.
In a meeting to determine the best way to go about solving this issue to best accommodate both economic growth and the quality of life of rural-living non-farming residents of Alexandria, the following suggestions were created:
The ethanol company should shoot beyond EPA standards and truly lead technology through innovative plant evolution to create 0% emissions with no disruption to the comprehensive surrounding environment. By accomplishing Zero Disruption the company can walk into towns and put their refinery anywhere, even in towns who have previously turned them down.
No matter if there are pollutants or not, wouldn’t it be best if we shot for 120% rather than meeting the current standard. 0% emissions would require overshooting the goal. Nuclear reactor facilities are already using filters that could be used for this energy producing process too.
The water leaving the plant could easily go back through Alexandria’s waste water treatment facility. If there is anything not captured by their processing, the city of Alexandria would be responsible for capturing it before letting it become diluted into current ground water.
Highway 9 is much better prepared for the kind of traffic expected to go through the plant. Conservatively 78,000 trucks per year would be expected.
Using 1300 as the main drive to the plant only makes sense and posting that Summitville Road as ‘local traffic only’.
Help the three neighbors on 1300 N to find suitable replacement business and housing solutions.
Create a rail spur down 1300 N (where the houses currently are) that allows any train preparing to stop in Alexandria a place to do it. This solution would stop all roads from being blocked by any train ever again. This change would also allow Alexandria Emergency Services complete access to their area at all times.
If the company were to rearrange their plans and put the main structures back where it was in the original drawing (against the railroad), the issues of noise, light, and aesthetic pollution would be lessened. Also, the addition of trees, burmes, bushes, etc would help absorb any noise, light, and aesthetic pollution as well. The two sided noise protection walls used to lessen the noise from the hammer mills could be enhanced to create a structure completely around the hammer mill to eliminate the noise and fans used to keep the hammer mill cool. Many large feed mills have solutions to copy if the problem proves difficult to solve.
As an added measure to the piece of land chosen for this project, large sections of inhabited wetlands would be disturbed, so in a show of good faith and good judgment, the wetlands could be mitigated to the north end of the property where a large drainage ditch is currently. This wetland could be designed by the Army Corps of Engineers with trails, bus and car parking with a small shelter as a State Wetland Observation Park.
There is a difference between doing something for money and doing something right that makes money.
If you have other suggestions to add to this list, please send them to info@ethanolrailroad.com