Biodiesel Ad Hoc Research Results:

There is a facility located in Isanti, Michigan that is the first and only factory of this kind, the kind BioPipe LLC is trying to put in to Honeyville, in the world. The company out there is called Ever Cat Fuels.

So I called some businesses near the Ever Cat Fuels factory just to see what people would say about it. I received both positive and negative responses. What follows are condensed notes from longer conversations with the businesses I spoke with...

Business Owner located very near to Ever Cat (didn't want his name or business used):

"I hate that place. You can't even open your windows on a hot night it smells so bad. At best it smells like french fries, at worst it smells like rancid oil.”

He said the site is not well maintained and he believes it will probably be out of business in a few years leaving a big warehouse and tanks as an eyesore. He said it is just a prototype factory used to sell licenses where the real money would be made (note: as of now there are no other factories currently in production using this process).

“I would never put a place like that in a residential area and I would fight tooth and nail to make sure it wasn't put near my house if I were you."

Bakery Owner (3 blocks away as reported by the owner):

"I've never smelled anything from the plant and have no problem with them. I drive past there twice a day to get here and have never smelled anything. I have no bias, I don't know them, and haven't had any problems with them at all. My granddaughter plays at the park a block away and I've never smelled it there either."

I then asked her how often her business is baking and she said she bakes 24/7 and that her neighbors love it because it always smells so good. I asked her if that might be why nobody ever thinks it smells bad near her business and she said "…that's probably right. Maybe you want to call some business on the other side of the factory and talk to them and see what they think--like the bowling alley. Maybe it's different for them; of course, I still don't smell it when I drive by the factory."

However, I also followed up by asking her if she would put a factory like that next to her house and she said "No. Especially, if I had little children. There isn't a smell, but it's still a factory."

She later noted that "it was originally reported that the factory would provide a number of jobs to our small community, but that didn't really materialize as most of the jobs were higher paying skilled jobs that went to people with expertise from outside the community."

She recommended I talk with Isanti City of the Chamber of Commerce to get more accurate information on that particular subject as she was just repeating what she had heard. (I haven't had to chance to do that yet).

Bowling Alley Employee (about 1/2 mile from the factory):

He started by noting he had already talked to someone from Utah about this and that he would tell me the same thing...

"I don't really notice it. You wouldn't know that it's even there except you can smell it when it gets really hot or when the wind blows, but it's not too bad."

After more discussion he told me I should probably call back later and discuss it with someone else, since he has had issues with his sense of smell in the past 2 or 3 years and can't really smell very well anymore.

So I called back and talked to a different employee who said:

"Oh no! By your house! Never!"

I asked why not and she said "because it stinks! It smells all the time, day or night. I have to drive past it twice a day and I hate driving by there. Some people say they can't smell it, but it smells all the time. It's not really a terrible smell; it's just a weird smell; a bad smell. I would never want to live next to it. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad if you don't have a sensitive nose, but I would never want to live by that place. Don't listen to people who say it doesn't stink, it does! I hope you don't have to live by one."

I asked her if she smelled it all the time at the bowling alley and she said they "smell it when it's hot or when the wind blows, but not all the time."

Rental business (5 blocks away same direction as bowling alley):

"I never smell anything from them. I take my son to the park by there all the time and have never smelled anything."

I asked him what the site was like and he said "it's clean and well-maintained. They rent stuff from us and they're really good guys."

I then asked him if he would want to live next to it and he said “no, it doesn’t belong near houses.”