Bango Oil wins SEC expansion appeal despite neighbor complaints

Bango Oil was victorious in an appeal hearing before the State Environmental Commission Tuesday and can now pursue a planned expansion at its Churchill County plant.

The oil re-refining facility located west of Fallon on U.S. Highway 50 filed for a revision to its air quality operating permit with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection in July 2008. The revised air quality permit was necessary because the company wants to double its production capacity and add production equipment to its site.

However, residents living in the area near Bango Oil have claimed for more than a year the plant emits a noxious odor. Those residents filed written complaints with the state regarding the proposed revised air permit.

In response, NDEP held a public hearing in January. The meeting packed the Churchill County Commission Chambers with interested residents, and NDEP presented figures which showed Bango Oil's revised air quality permit will comply with national ambient air quality standards.

NDEP announced in February it issued the revised air quality permit to Bango Oil, but two Churchill County residents and one Lyon County resident appealed the state's decision to the State Environmental Commission for various reasons.

The SEC met in April and sat through seven hours of testimony from Churchill County residents, NDEP officials and Bango Oil attorneys. The SEC hearing was left unfinished, but was rescheduled for Tuesday.

"That decision was based on what NDEP uses as a qualifier as a license," said Tom Clark, a spokesman for Bango Oil. "I believe we've met all the standards."

Clark said the revised license will allow the company to move forward with its waste water treatment facility and to expand other portions of the plant to generate more product. He added Bango Oil has removed the thermal oxidizer, which some claimed produced the offending odor.

While the company received the green light from the state, it still needs county approval.

"They cannot increase production without an amended special use permit," said Churchill County Planner Eleanor Lockwood.

She added a planned redundant system at the plant was disapproved at the county level, but additional storage tanks were approved for a building permit.

"They needed to prove to the county that in no way could it increase production with what it was building," Lockwood said.

The residents' appeals weren't based on whether Bango Oil complied with its existing air quality permit, but it was a way to be heard by more state officials.

"We knew going in that we weren't going to win," said resident Don Mello, a vocal opponent against Bango Oil. "At the same time, we had to fight it or we may have lost our rights in the future for a court case."

The three SEC commissioners - Alan Coyner, Jim Gans and Pete Anderson - told residents they believe there is an odor problem in the area. Coyner and Gans went so far to say they believed the source of the odor was Bango Oil.

"This hearing was not about odors. It was irresponsible for them to say that," said Clark. "We invite those commissioners to come out to the facility to see for themselves."

Clark added the company will help fund the county's scientific study to determine how elements disperse once airborne and how far they can travel.

"This company firmly believes the odors are not coming from this facility, and anything we can do to help we can. It's the right thing to do," Clark said. "The allegations won't go away if we don't aid the county."