Hyperion Resources, Inc. Proposes an Oil Refinery
What You Should Know

Karen Hall
Environmental Engineer

Fact:     The proposed Hyperion refinery, if built, will be located closer to Vermillion than to Elk Point.  The proposed site is at the northeast corner of I-29 and US 50, 8 miles from Vermillion and 11 miles from Elk Point.  Please call it “the Vermillion refinery,” not “the Elk Point refinery.”

Fact:     Hyperion Resources, Inc., has never built, owned or operated an oil refinery, yet their CEO asserts that Hyperion will operate the refinery once it is built.  No new refinery has been started up in the United States since 1976.  The most dangerous periods of time in refining are startups and shutdowns.

Fact:     If built as proposed, the Hyperion refinery will be the sixth largest in the nation at 400,000 barrels/day of crude oil processed.  For purposes of size comparison, the Conoco refinery in Billings, MT, processes 50,000 barrels/day and the Tesoro refinery in Mandan, ND, processes 58,000 barrels/day.  The Wyoming Refining Co. refinery in Newcastle, WY, processes 15,000 barrels/day.

Fact:     If built as proposed, the Hyperion refinery will likely be the second largest polluter in the state, behind Big Stone Power in Milbank, SD.

Fact:     There is no such thing as a “green refinery,” despite what Hyperion asserts about its project.

A smaller refinery in Minnesota (285,000 bbl/day), where regulations are strict and enforcement swift, processes the identical crude oil that Hyperion proposes to use.  The Minnesota refinery’s emissions in 2005 (after reducing its air emissions by 50% over 5 years) included 5,150.35 tons of pollutants to air, 599.14 tons toxic pollutants to air and water, and 619 tons of hazardous waste, for a total of 6,368.5 tons.  Assuming Hyperion’s refinery, using the Best Available Control Technology mandated by law, produces approximately the same amount of pollution per barrel of crude oil processed, the total could approach 8,916 tons per year, or 24 tons of pollution produced per day. 

Fact:     Hyperion originally asserted that it would recover carbon dioxide emitted from its stacks and, using the process of carbon sequestration, store that CO2 underground ground.  Since it was pointed out that the technology of carbon sequestration is commercially untried and unproven, however, Hyperion has backed off that claim.  Carbon dioxide sequestration is typically proposed for underground formations, including exhausted oil wells, closed underground mines, and salt domes, none of which are located near the Vermillion area.

Fact:     If Hyperion’s facility is built, it won’t affect area gas prices significantly.  Gasoline is a commodity.  Its price is set by regional, national and world markets.  Because transportation costs to local stations will be less, prices may be a few cents lower per gallon than in more distant communities.

Fact:     If Hyperion’s facility is built, there will be additional stress on local and area infrastructure.  Truck loading racks, open 24 hours a day, will mean a significant increase in truck traffic.  Hyperion has not yet addressed the possibility of barge traffic on the Missouri.  It will also likely build a spur to the refinery site and haul products by rail.

Fact:     Hyperion originally asserted that the refinery would use 9 to 12 million gallons of surface water per day, presumably from the Missouri River.  Surface water is contaminated with sediments and biological material, however, and is hard on equipment unless it is cleaned before use, an expensive proposition.  Hyperion has backed off that claim and now says that water sources will be evaluated on a site by site basis.

Hyperion Resources, Inc., has not been especially forthcoming about the details of its project.  Its website changes frequently as its claims are challenged by experts.  Please follow this issue closely.  Hyperion’s website can be found at http://www.hyperionec.com/.


                                                                  Karen Hall
                                                                  Environmental Engineer
                                                                  8 years of refining experience