While southeast South Dakotans individually weigh the costs and benefits of an oil refinery possibly rising in their agrarian midst, groups have formed to oppose and support the project.
This afternoon, the grassroots Citizens for Union County Committee will hold a community meeting to air what organizers believe would be the detrimental effects if Hyperion Resources builds its proposed $8 billion "green" refinery north of Elk Point and southeast of Spink. After months of speculation while an unnamed firm bought numerous land options in the area, Dallas, Texas-based Hyperion announced June 13 that it wanted to build a refinery in Union County but was mulling unspecified other sites as well.
There has been support for and criticism of the project. Some say the refinery would bring millions of beneficial dollars to the area economy; others fear a way of rural life would be stripped away by a plant placed in a 4- by 5-mile swath. The Citizens for Union County Committee members -- headed by Dale Harkness, Ed Cable, Burdette Hanson and his son Arden Hanson -- fall into the latter category. Their 3 p.m. community meeting in Elk Point will include a presentation by Dennis Larson of the National Refinery Reform Campaign in San Francisco, an organization that seeks to clean up American's oil refineries and reduce dependence on fossil fuels, according to its Web site.
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On the flip side of the issue, a group called Citizens for Hyperion supports the refinery.
"We believe this is a great opportunity for the area," said J.B. Mercer of Jefferson, S.D., one of the group's leaders, has said.
On Tuesday, the Downtown Partners group, which promotes growth for downtown Sioux City businesses, issued a statement of support for Hyperion's Union County plans.
Downtown Partners executive director Roger Caudron said: "The positive effects that could be felt by downtown Sioux City businesses through the construction period and after completion are phenomenal. Having this type of development occur in the vicinity will change the economic climate for the entire region. The potential for spin-off businesses in Sioux City and the downtown area will be of great benefit to the changing downtown economy."
Citizens for Union County formed about five weeks before the so-called "Gorilla" project was publicly identified. Burdette Hanson said the residents he knows are split roughly 50/50 on their opinion of the refinery, but his view is settled.
"I am not going to sell to them. We're trying to get rid of them," he said.
Hanson, 84, has lived his entire life just north of Elk Point, raising corn and soybeans.
"This is my home. I don't want to destroy my home, get an oil refinery in here. It ain't just a mile or two, it will take in 20, 25 miles, if the wind is going, with smoke and soot and smell from the refinery," he said.
Hanson said the Union County land is best suited to raising corn and beans, and he cited ethanol as a better intersection of economic development and energy production.
"We need food for the people, and we need corn for our ethanol plants. ... Eastern South Dakota is South Dakota's best farmland," he said.
Bret Hayworth may be reached at (712) 293.4203 or brethayworth@siouxcityjournal.com
Meeting particulars
What: Community meeting about the Gorilla project
Who: Citizens for Union County Committee and National Refinery Reform Campaign
When: 3 p.m. today
Where: American Legion Post No. 134 dining room, 103 E. Main St., Elk Point
