Brandon Presley on Nettleton Biodiesel Then and Now

Patsy Brumfield is on the trail of some alleged biodiesel crooks.

When backers of Biodiesel of Mississippi swept into [Nettleton] in 2003, people saw hope in the jobs of the future. They heard something new about making diesel fuel in a different way, in a world where countries go to war over oil supplies. They saw a glimmer of a way to change from the struggling furniture industry or just small-town, mom-and-pop work.

By the time the alternative industry went awry and burst their bubble of optimism, creditors were left holding the bag to the tune of at least $489,000. If you look at who really got paid, it was the lawyers and the accountants in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding that ended officially April 4.

Few people contacted about their experiences with Biodiesel want to talk on the record about their experiences with the company and its indicted owner, William T. “Tommy” Tacker.

Tupelo’s Lynn Blanton isn’t so bashful.

“Tacker is completely crooked,” said Blanton of NESCO, an electrical company, which Biodiesel still owes $12,923.

“Tacker is a good talker,” Blanton recalled. “I don’t ever expect to see anything” recovered on the debt.

“A good talker” is how many describe the man who came to town with a publicly announced plan to invest $16 million in a dormant grain elevator site. The 14-acre site had been idle for more than a decade on the south side of town. Tacker proposed to make biodiesel fuel from soybean oil there, and bring about 50 jobs in this town of 2,000 on the Lee-Monroe county line. He said this plant would be different from others, more efficient, because he would use hydrogen to power it and store 2.3 million gallons on site.

Then-Mayor Brandon Presley said he was excited about the potential for his hometown. “I think from the beginning, they believed they could do it,” Presley remembered. Today? “Be very cautious,” Presley advises any community where bioenergy promoters come a’knocking. “This is an emerging technology and all sorts of people are trying this.”

As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, the Nettleton facility was sold to Universal Bioenergy North American Inc., which was bought in January 2007 by Universal Bioenergy Inc.

Robbie Wilbur, a spokesman at DEQ, said Universal Bioenergy never completed the process to operate in Nettleton.

What happened at Biodiesel?

If anybody knows with certainty, they aren’t talking about it.

Presley, now the Mississippi Public Service Commission’s northern commissioner, said his hometown may have come out better than anybody else in the deal – the town sold the property to Biodiesel for $50,000 and retained a revenue-producing telephone cell tower at one corner.

As of Jan. 1, 2007, Biodiesel of Mississippi Inc. appears to have been administratively dissolved for the final time.

“I really hate that,” Presley said last week. “A lot of big dreams for new jobs got dashed.”

Patsy failed to mention that Universal Bioenergy was a campaign contributor to Brandon Presley as late as April of 2007.Here is what Brandon Presley had to say several years ago about biodiesel in Nettleton (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal March 6, 2003):

Nettleton Mayor Brandon Presley joined Mississippi agriculture commissioner Lester Spell on an August trip to St. Louis that laid the groundwork for the plant. "This will actually be the largest alternative fuel plant, production-wise, in the United States once it's up and running," said Presley, who along with aldermen negotiated a donation of the site to Nettleton from Bunge North America's grain division. "(Bunge) saw it as an opportunity for the city and a proactive move environmentally for this to be the first plant of its type. And it was just a piece of property that wasn't doing them any good."

Presley said he couldn't forecast a percentage increase in soybean production generated by the plant, but the benefits would be tangible for farmers. "They're going to be getting a better price for their beans," he said. "And they'll be able to truck them here locally instead of sending them somewhere else."

"No farmer will have to put up any money to form a cooperative," Presley said of the biodiesel refinery. "There's not any risk out there for the farmer." An edge for biodiesel is it doesn't require transportation back to the petroleum industry for further refining. An additive, ethanol must be blended with gasoline before its market-ready, Presley said. "This biodiesel can be used automatically," he said.

Besides Tacker, the venture includes silent investment partners from Tennessee, Presley said.

Spinoff businesses are likely from byproducts, Presley said, with catfish and pet food factories and a vitamin-enriched water product possible. Truck traffic related to the venture is expected to bring a truck stop and 24-hour restaurant to Nettleton, he said.

Despite Presley's optimism and assurances, this did not become "the largest alternative fuel plant" in the U.S.; it didn't help soybean growers; there were no spinoff businesses: no "catfish and petfood factories," no "vitamin-enriched water" products, and no "trucks top and 24-hour restaurant."