A portion of land in Marion County that was originally going to be used to build an ethanol plant has now been sold. Red Rock Renewables purchased a 253 acre piece of land on the north edge of Pleasantville in 2006, when ethanol fuel was at its peak, with plans to build an ethanol production plant. Since then the need for ethanol has dropped dramatically after the price of oil fell. Charles Watson, a member of Red Rock Renewables says they chose to sell the land because the initial investment and interest was exceeding income because the original plans had halted. The land was sold to the Kyle Phillips family who plans to use it to farm. Red Rock Renewables kept an option to by back the land between now and January 1, 2012 at a price of $8,500 per acre, much higher than the $5,825 per acre the Phillip’s paid for the land. Watson says he hopes that the government will decide that it is important to be an energy independent county so that the money spent on fuel can go to farmers in the United States instead of other nations. The Red Rock Renewables board of directors and stockholders will decide whether to make refunds to investors immediately or wait and see if they will be able to move forward with the original project by 2012.

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