Hyperion to request land rezoning for refinery
Source: Sioux City Journal
December 04, 2007
Hyperion Resources told a packed Union County courtroom Tuesday that the company is committed to building the "cleanest, lowest-emitting" oil refinery in the United States and hopes it will be in Union County.
Four opponents of the $8 billion project refinery were on the agenda and followed the Hyperion presentation, speaking on behalf of many in attendance who wore "Save Union County" buttons.
Several Hyperion executives and attorneys told the crowd that the company would be filing its application for the necessary rezoning "in a day or two" and would be asking for residents' blessings on the project.
"Mr. Huddleston is committed to a countywide election because he doesn't want to come to a place where he would not be welcomed," Bob Frieberg, a Beresford attorney representing the Dallas-based energy company, said. Albert Huddleston is the owner-CEO of the Dallas-based energy company.
When Frieberg said Hyperion is committed to "transparency," many in the crowd laughed out loud. Commissioner Chairman Doyle Karpen warned them not to respond to speakers. "This is not a show," he said.
Frieberg said the company will file to rezone land from agricultural to a planned development district. After the meeting he said Hyperion would not immediately request rezoning for all 10,000 acres on which it claims to have land purchase options. He said some would be included in the application, but the rest would be rezoned differently later, when it became necessary.
The company's informal presentation to the Board of Commissioners drew at least 150 people, forcing the meeting to move from the small commissioners' room to the courtroom. When Hyperion officials spoke, the crowd had swelled into the hallway outside the courtroom.
The opponents who spoke painted a picture of hundreds of millions of dollars of infrastructure costs being heaped on county taxpayers, of air and water degradation and the dangers of a leaky oil pipeline.
Arden Hanson, of rural Elk Point, told the audience, "There is no such thing as a 'green' refinery." And, he said, the project "could not be more contrary to present Union County planning and zoning.
"We are not opposed to development in general," Hanson said. "But this project is in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Return to siouxcityjournal.com for video later today and read more of this story in Wednesday's Journal.
