ST. PAUL - Minnesota's requirement to blend diesel with a soybean-based additive is a month old today, but state officials suspended the law Friday upon discovering some fuel does not meet quality standards.
Workers at terminals where diesel is blended found late Thursday that some of the soybean product known as biodiesel was not up to specifications required in state law.
The state's largest oil refinery, Flint Hills, stopped selling diesel immediately. Even after the state Commerce Department approved selling fuel without biodiesel Friday afternoon, it took hours to reprogram computers before the refinery south of the Twin Cities could resume blending the fuel, spokesman John Hofland said.
Magellan Midstream Partners - which blends biodiesel and diesel in seven Minnesota and North Dakota terminals including Fargo, Grand Forks, Alexandria and Marshall - switched over to pure diesel, Bruce Heine said in a telephone interview from company headquarters in Tulsa, Okla.
BIODIESEL JUMP
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"We want to get back into biodiesel distribution as soon as we can," Heine said, adding that fuel will be tested this weekend to see if it meets state standards.
It wasn't clear if any service stations ran out of diesel, although the president of the Minnesota Trucking Association said members reported problems.
"We are receiving numerous calls from our member trucking companies who are having difficulty locating loads of diesel to keep their trucks moving," John Hausladen said in a letter asking Gov. Tim Pawlenty to take action.
Hausladen said diesel shortages already were reported because of hurricane refinery disruptions and other problems. The shortages come at a time when Midwest diesel prices are highest in the country.
Refinery and state officials did not say where the bad biodiesel originated. Minnesota has three biodiesel plants - in Albert Lea, Brewster and Redwood Falls.
A month ago today, Pawlenty traveled the state celebrating the first-in-the-nation biodiesel requirement. The law says most diesel fuel sold in the state must contain 2 percent biodiesel.
In Minnesota, biodiesel is made from soybean oil, but it can be made from other vegetable oils.
Hausladen and others who questioned the biodiesel mandate urged lawmakers to include a provision allowing the sale of pure diesel if there was not enough biodiesel available. That is not in the law.
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"Creating a mandate is not like waving a magic wand," Hausladen said. "It doesn't just happen."
The Commerce Department authorized refiners, terminals, distributors and retailers to sell unblended diesel for 10 days without fear of legal penalties.
"We acted to avoid any type of supply problem," Commerce Department spokesman Bruce Gordon said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Don Davis at (651) 290-0707
