Lima Council approves sale to Lima Energy
LIMA, Oct 09, 2012 (Menafn - The Lima News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --The former site of the Lima Locomotive Works will have a new owner for the first time since 1999. Lima City Council on Monday approved the sale of the property for 1.5 million for the Lima Energy project.
The city acquired the property in 1999 with City Council twice before authorizing a sale. Neither of those sales closed. Officials with USA Synthetic Fuel Corp., the parent company for Lima Energy, however, last month announced it had obtained partial funding to move forward with the first phase of the long-planned project.
"Hopefully in the next few weeks we'll finish finalizing that transaction and deliver funds to the city and start clearing the land. There's a lot of brush to move out," said Dwight Lockwood, senior adviser to USA Synthetic Fuel Corp. and project director for Lima Energy. "In the meantime, I'll start working on permit revisions and things like that to move it forward. We'll then start mobilizing the engineering to move that forward."
With 35 million in debt financing and 11 million in an equity investment from Global Energy secured last month, Lockwood said company officials are eager to make progress.
"It's very encouraging tonight to actually have the money in escrow ready to go as soon as we complete the transaction," he said. "I'm excited. I used to work at the refinery, I've lived here. I've been very eager to move this project forward and deliver what we think it can."
The current plans call for the construction of an Ultra Clean Btu Converter, which will take coal and petroleum coke and transform it into lower cost synthetic fuel products like ultraclean synthetic crude, diesel, jet and gasoline.
"I know there have been some frustrations and it seems like it's taken a long time," Council President John Nixon said. "I can only imagine that those frustrations are exponentialized in your view because I know that you all have been working very hard to get this going. It's a pleasure to see it come to this level, to this step. I wish you much success. I'm glad you've continued to pursue developing Lima Energy in the city."
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