NBB Responds to NYT Story on Pollution

NBB Response to NYT Producer Pollution Story   Dear Daniel, The New York Times recently ran a story on isolated instances of biodiesel producers allegedly committing environmental violations during the course of their production of biodiesel. Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, responded swiftly to counter the implication in the story that all biodiesel production has pollution as a byproduct. The biodiesel industry strongly condemns polluting in the process of producing the environmentally friendly, cleaner burning fuel biodiesel (in this case, rare cases of individuals allegedly committing illegal acts). We absolutely do not condone the improper handling of by-products and other materials in the production of biodiesel that are violations of local, state, or federal laws. We believe such indefensible behavior should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Although these allegations represent a very small percentage of the 170-plant industry as a whole, the National Biodiesel Board is taking aggressive efforts to educate industry stakeholders and eliminate non-compliance and irresponsible behavior as mentioned in the story. The NBB is working with the Missouri Dept. of Natural Resources in offering webinars on proper permitting for biodiesel operations. The NBB has also formed a Sustainability Task Force for industry-wide guidance in ensuring no biodiesel is produced in a way that can harm or deplete our country’s natural resources. Read the NBB response submitted to the New York Times article. Please visit www.biodiesel.org for more.