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Do the two top proponents of this project get a pass?
Do we taxpayers get our money back?
Anyone interested in solving the felonious "grand theft" of the used grease that was being stored in City buildings?
Posted by: mike bell | July 28, 2009 at 12:26 PM
As of last week, according to Cal-OSHA, WEF has not paid or asked to appeal the fines.
Many unanswered questions.How much will this cost the city? Will WEF file for bankruptcy? Will liens be placed on the property by tradesmen who worked on the project? The city does not know who worked on the project, thus it cannot say how much this will cost. Will the city as the owner of the property have to pay all these bills?
It had the chance for Chevron, one of the world's largest corporations, to come in and build the plant. The city never sent Chevron a proposal. Chevron built a plant for the city of Millbrae and it is operational!
City Council picked WEF, on the advice of one of the members of the Pacifica Brain Trust.
I wonder what the California Air Resources Board (CARB) documents will say? Maybe I can help the city straighten out this WEF mess!
Posted by: jim alex | July 27, 2009 at 11:37 PM
The report certainly calls into question the credibility of the people who vouched for Whole Energy as being competent and capable of building such a complex project. WEF either showed an inexcusable ignorance of the permitting process, or a willful neglect. They put the city at risk, but most importantly they put the lives of the workers at risk. The people who shut down this project are the true heroes of the city.
Posted by: Jeffrey Simons | July 27, 2009 at 09:01 PM
Biodiesel is going to remain a garage project.
It's just fine as that.
Forget the refinery idea. Yes, it's a refinery, refinery, REFINERY!
We don't need an industrial project on the coast, it's a totally inappropriate land use.
They're having trouble supporting these REFINERIES inland, much less out here.
Euphemisms don't mask a factory's purpose--it's a measure of the dishonesty of our age that the fine old English word "refinery" wasn't used honestly here.
Posted by: Lionel Emde | July 27, 2009 at 08:56 PM
Trench was ordered filled and covered by Cal-OSHA.
I was screaming from the rooftops that the trench was 13 feet deep from the very start.
Mr. Underhill, you should be outraged the city didn't ask WEF to use local labor.
You should be outraged as a tradesman that WEF tried to build this with no licensed contractor on site.
You should be outraged this was a waste of yours and my tax dollars, along with the other 40,000 people in town.
You should be outraged that Fish & Game, Fish & Wildlife, Coastal Commission, State Contractors Board, and EPA are all doing investigations on WEF.
We should be outraged that the city tried to pass this along as another pet project, for a select few in town.
Posted by: jim alex | July 27, 2009 at 04:50 PM
Here's an interesting story published in the LA Times yesterday about the future of biodiesel in CA.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-lewis26-2009jul26,0,1984635.story
Posted by: Jeff Dahl | July 27, 2009 at 04:39 PM
I stand corrected (in my orthopedic shoes), the trench is 13 feet deep and if, for whatever reason, the project will not be allowed to move forward the trench should, of course, be filled.
Here is a more successful biodiesel (retail rather than manufacturing) project.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3qR6umMFO0&eurl=http://www.dogpatchbiofuels.com/&feature=player_embedded
is a more successful biodiesel project.
Posted by: Dan Underhill | July 26, 2009 at 09:19 PM