EPA/DOE require cleanup of biodiesel plant

Stacey Rasmussen, manager for the Odessa Public Development Authority, didn’t know what she was in for when she met with people from the federal Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Ecology last week for a “routine inspection” of Odessa’s mothballed biodiesel plant. As she reported Monday, March 16, at the regular monthly meeting of the OPDA board, the initial inspection quickly set off alarm bells among the DOE representatives present. EPA representation was also expected, but no one from that organization appeared.

The first group of inspectors was followed the next Thursday by...