Lake County secures funding alternatives for railroad line upgrades for Red Rock Biofuels

November 3, 2019 |

In Oregon, state funding is pending but Lake County has obtained alternative funding for the necessary railroad line upgrades to be made in time for Red Rock Biofuels to commence operations in the spring. The current rail line only allows five cars of biodiesel at a time but with Red Rock’s facilities anticipated to bring 10 rail cars of biofuel each week, the rail improvements and upgrades are necessary to meet the increase in biofuel rail cars. It is estimated that about 15 million gallons of biofuels will be shipped each year from the Lakeview facility on the Goose Lake line.

According to Herald and News, “the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Authority (FRA) approved $5.6 million in grant funds for freight rail system upgrades in Lake County through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program. The CRISI grant requires a $5 million match, $1.4 million of which is dedicated from construction of a new rail spur connecting to the main line at the currently under construction Red Rock Biofuels facility on the south end of Lakeview. An additional $3.12 million was expected in matching funds from the Oregon State Legislature, but those expected funds have been pushed until the next legislative session, in part due to unexpected delays after the State Senate was brought to a halt by Republican-led walkouts and contentious protests on unrelated votes earlier this year.”

Category: Fuels

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