Biodiesel refinery plan canceled

Backers of a proposed Spangle biodiesel refinery have canceled that plan, citing financing difficulties and lack of area support for the project.

“I put my money where my mouth was,” said Bruce Nave, an Arizona businessman who proposed building the biodiesel plant. “And now I have to eat it.”

Plans were announced earlier in 2006, with an estimated 25 jobs created in tiny Spangle, population 200. Nave’s company, Wi BioFuels Inc., of Apache Junction, Ariz., would build the plant to produce several million gallons of fuel in its first year. He anticipated investing close to $12 million to get it operating.

Nave said he already spent several million dollars on equipment and canola seed. Nave and his associates also spent several weeks meeting with area growers asking them to switch from barley and wheat to canola, the key component in producing biodiesel fuel.

Earlier this year Spangle and Whitman County officials considered his project a key economic development driver in an area that has not seen significant wage or population growth in decades.

Spangle Mayor Ken DeGon said he was disappointed in Nave’s decision. “This would have been a big help for the town,” he said.

But while area farmers were curious about the deal, it’s not clear that many had committed to growing canola, said Clint Koehler, Spangle’s public works director. The decision by growers over what crops to plant during spring was still several weeks away, said Koehler.

Nave blamed part of the proposal’s failure on lack of support by some area companies, including a few equipment dealers.

“It seemed like everybody that was associating themselves with the project were more interested in seeing what they could get out of us, rather than what they could do to get the job done,” Nave said.

His initial interest for the project stemmed from running a trucking company in Apache Junction, Ariz. “Like everyone else in the country, I’m looking for ways to avoid escalating fuel costs,” Nave said.

He spent time living in Eastern Washington and said he has relatives who are growers on the Palouse who urged him to build the project in Eastern Washington.

Nave said he’s considering reviving the project near Apache Junction, where he lives. His trucking firm, Western Industrial Resources Corp., has about 500 employees, Nave said.