Alternative Energy park proposed on old Sydney Mine

To say plans for the largest alternative energy park in the Southeast drew rousing praise from nearby residents might be an overstatement.

But most of those attending a meeting Thursday to learn about the proposal agreed that it's the best plan they've seen yet for the old Sydney Mine. Still, they had plenty of questions about traffic, pollution, jobs creation and buffering between the energy park and surrounding neighborhoods.

A Fort Lauderdale-based development firm has plans to transform 3,000 acres between Dover and Turkey Creek Roads off State Road 60 into a state-of-the-art energy farm that would transform agricultural and yard waste into electricity and fuel. It would also include a solar farm and a process to convert algae into energy.

The plan is scheduled to go before the Hillsborough County Commission April 8.

The gasification process would use virtually all of the gray water produced at a nearby county wastewater plant, along with the yard and farm waste.

And it would all be done in an environmentally friendly way, so as to avoid creation of any pollution in the process, according to the developers.

To get the necessary approval, the County Commission must agree to make two amendments to the county's comprehensive plan, a blueprint for future development. It would have to extend the urban service boundary east of Dover Road to surround the project, so developers could access county water and sewer lines. And it would require a new energy industrial park category for the mixed use of the land.

If the approvals go through for the $1 billion project before year's end, the developers could receive up to $150 million in state and federal alternative energy incentive money.

Within five years or so, about 600 energy related jobs would be created. Those employees would work alongside researchers from the University of South Florida and the Museum of Science & Industry, said Kyle Mowitz, president of Imperium Companies.

Mowitz said while land would have been cheaper in Polk County, the old Sydney Mine turned out to be the perfect location, with a nearby talent pool, a Tampa Electric Co. grid and a railroad track running through it. It is within two miles of the wastewater treatment plant and in the heart of the agricultural region, which could provide fuel for the gasification plant, he said.

"It's the most workable plan I've seen," said Joe Lang, president of the Dover Woods Homeowners Association. He questions additional railroad trips spurred by the energy park and possible traffic issues.

Mowitz said the project would likely produce one extra train trip a day through eastern Hillsborough County to collect any fuel that would be exported.

Imperium Vice President Marc Robbins said the three shifts at the energy park would be set up to avoid peak traffic congestion periods and all entrances into the park would be either on S.R. 60 or Turkey Creek Road.

Lisa Stropes, president of the Strawberry Ridge Homeowners Association, questioned whether the project would produce pollution. "Eighty percent of our residents are elderly and that is a huge consideration."

Mowitz said the gasification process would be contained inside a building and any CO2 produced would be fed to the algae. "Our sequestration of emission is unique," he said. "We would be considered by ultra low emission standards."

The company plans to put a Web site up within a month with details of the project.