Web exclusive posted April 23, 2008 at 1:48 p.m. CST

Tony Everson's professional life hasn't changed drastically even with a downturn in the ethanol economy. He helps ethanol plant owners site their proposed facilities. If anything, Everson might even be busier these days. That's because developers are expending more time and money to get things right at the outset, he said.

Everson is a civil engineer and plant developer for HDR, an Omaha-based architectural, engineering and consulting firm with 150 locations. Everson works exclusively on ethanol plants and siting evaluations for plant additions or process improvements.

"I've noticed the industry struggling a bit and a few plants put on the back burner," Everson said. "But the sites people are looking at now, they're taking a lot more effort to do additional studies, additional evaluations, making ultimately sure it's the right spot to build on. They're spending more money up front as opposed to rushing into it and saying we'll make it work." Everson said the added cost up front is more cost effective in the end. HDR's sited projects over the past two years have resulted in seven plants under construction or near production in five Midwestern states.

A key component is rail access and a site in which the elevation to the rails is compatible. "If you're not careful you can create unneeded expenses because the rail is a permanent elevation. It's not going to move," Everson said, who also determines water access, water supply, the ability to discharge wastewater by National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System authorized under the Clean Water Act, site access for truck traffic, air permitting requirements, title issues and permits necessary for local planning and zoning agencies. "We do quite a bit of environmental work to see if it's a good fit," he said

Feedstock availability is usually an "owner-driven" determination, Evanson said, but its part of an overall evaluation, particularly with cellulosic plants. "As the industry changes to other types of production processes and using multiple types of feedstock solutions, the evaluation for siting a facility will also need to change," Everson said. "Additional focus will need to be given to feedstock analysis and methods to harvest, handle, transport, and store the various types of feedstock materials." HDR has developed receiving facilities for corn stover, switchgrass and wood wastes.

"I'm hearing escalating construction costs, that the margins to build right now are not as attractive as the olden days," and there are financing hurdles, he said. That's why developers are investing more in his work early on - there's too much at stake to be delayed by a poor site choice. And he adds, he usually leaves political issues, such as dealing with neighboring landowners, to the plant developers because they are in a better position to educate affected residents about their plans.

But a component of political palatability has resulted in more benign designs. "There's been instances where we suggest setting grades so it's not as visible to the general public or building earthen berms around the perimeter to give some level of protection or reducing visibility from the general public," he said.

He said a developer recently presented him with three site options and asked him to evaluate all three to see which site would be the easiest to build on first. HDR has developed a ranking system to evaluate a potential site's strengths and weaknesses. If a municipality will be relied on to furnish water and doesn't have the volume to support an ethanol plant, or there's no groundwater supply, those sites are ranked lower in an overall evaluation.

A low ranking might see Everson moving down the road to the next piece of land. And for him, it's all in a day's work.