Construction of a $50 million biodiesel plant here and the jobs it will create should be excellent for Muskogee’s economy, a Muskogee City-County Port Authority member said Tuesday.

The Authority voted Tuesday to authorize its chairman to sign a lease agreement with Nova Biosources Fuels Inc. for construction of a plant on 28 acres on the west side of the port property. The site is east of the Muskogee Turnpike, just south of the former Zapata plant.

The facility will turn animal and vegetable oils into biodiesel, a product that can be blended with diesel fuel for a cleaner-burning fuel that reduces petroleum consumption.

The plant is expected to have 15 to 25 employees who will be paid from $35,000 to $85,000 per year.

“It will be good for the economy of Muskogee,” said David Jones, an Authority member and a member of the City Council. “When we bring in higher-paying jobs, it’s always good for Muskogee.

“They’re going to spend the money in Muskogee, they’re going to live in Muskogee. It has a pyramid effect. It improves the economy and the quality of life in Muskogee.”

Company expanding throughout country

The plant here is one of several new plants Nova plans to build throughout the nation in the next few years. They have recently completed a plant in Clinton County, Iowa, for another processor and are scheduled to complete one in DeForest, Wis., by Jan. 7 and are building one in Greenville, Miss. Those also are for other biodiesel manufacturers.

Then, the company will build two to four refineries of their own and in joint ventures, according to Nova’s plan of operations listed in a form available on the Internet at http://biz.yahoo.com/e/060914/nvao.ob10qsb.html

In a media release issued in July by the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Houston-based company said it has an agreement with ConAgra Trade Group Inc. to provide animal and vegetable fats for the plant to be built in Oklahoma. ConAgra also has agreed to buy the biodiesel fuel produced.

The Muskogee plant will have the capacity to produce 60 million gallons of biodiesel per year, Robinson said.

Nova has the technology to process more than 25 different animal- and vegetable-based fats, oils and greases into biodiesel, Robinson said. The vegetable oils include those from soybeans, safflower and palm. The raw product — the oils and fats — will come to the plant by rail, by barge and by truck, and the processed products will leave by way of all three, as well.

Initially, Robinson expects the company to mainly use rail to move its goods, with about 40 percent to be moved on barges and 10 percent by truck. Over the long term, it could shift substantially to barge traffic.