Friday, June 14, 2013

June 14, 2013 Industrial Board Recommends Another One-Year Extension for Freedom Energy Diesel Project

At Wednesday's Industrial Board meeting, the Board voted to recommend that City Council give another one year extension to Freedom Energy Diesel to develop a coal-to-gas plant at the East Tennessee Progress Center.


In June 2011, 116 acres in the ETPC was sold at a deeply discounted price to D4 Capital Holdings, LLC which transferred the property to Freedom Energy Diesel, LLC for construction of a $405 Million dollar plant that would use new technology to convert coal into gas/diesel. The head of FED is David Wild of Morristown.

The IDB named FED "Project Victory."

Despite D4 and/or FED assurances that round-the-clock construction of the plant would begin, the City included in its June 2011 deed that if construction had not begun within one year, then the property would revert to the City of Morristown.

One year later, June 2012, grading had taken place but no construction of the facility had begun and no product was being shipped. FED asked for and was granted a one-year extension to go "overseas" for financing. David Wild spoke at that IDB meeting. See the council and IDB video here.

Now another year later, June 2013, no construction of the facility has begun and no product is being shipped. FED has asked for another extension. The second one-year extension is broken into two phases---6 months (December 31, 2013) to obtain and present proof that it has the financing in place for the project and then another 6 months (June 30, 2014) to begin construction.

No member of the IDB asked FED representative David Wild any questions about the status of the project before voting on the extension.  [IDB Chairman Jack Fishman said City Council had requested that the IDB make a recommendation.]

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