RES settlement exceeds maximum penalty

Though it has not admitted liability or fault in the case, RES has agreed to pay $100,000 up front, and an additional $25,000 per odor control violation that may occur in the next two years, not exceeding $75,000.

The penalty is two and a half times the maximum penalty normally allowed under the Missouri Air Conservation Law, according to Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon, whose lawsuit against RES in January now is resolved. A separate public nuisance suit filed jointly by Nixon and the city of Carthage in April 2005 is pending.

The consent judgment, executed by the Circuit Court of Jasper County, cancels a December cease and desist order and allows RES to begin operating without restriction immediately.

In addition to Nixon’s two suits against RES, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources cited the company six times between March and August 2005. That issue was referred to Nixon’s office in January.

RES’ plant converts agricultural and animal wastes into oil, gas, minerals and fertilizer. Much of the waste comes from a nearby Con-Agra turkey processing facility.

The plant produces on average between 250 and 350 barrels of oil per day and, at full capacity, could produce up to 500 barrels daily.

According to the judgment, RES has “put forth considerable efforts and resources to develop and implement significant odor-control techniques and improvements at the facility, expending in excess of $3 million.”

“We are extremely pleased to have worked to a mutually satisfactory conclusion with both the state attorney general’s office and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and to put this matter behind us,” said Brian Appel, RES managing partner, in the statement. “We look forward to continued progress in providing a renewable domestic energy source that contributes to energy independence for the United States.”