Botwood biofuel project dead, emails show bureaucratic tangle

It was a project capable of changingthe future of a small town in central Newfoundland and being on the cutting edge of renewable energy.

But it's not moving forward.

A $185-millionbiodieselproduction plant will likely not be constructed inBotwood, sources tellCBCNews.

NewgreenTechnology, a Corner Brook-based company, said the project would have created between 400 and 600 jobs during the construction phase, and another 100 permanent jobs afterwards.

The companyreached an agreement in principle with the province last Februaryfor access to a massive swath of timber rights a deal that was dependent on the resubmission of a business plan with additional information, and work starting as soon as possible.

The agreement would expire within six months if no progress was made.

The business plan was never updated and constructionnever began,so the rights to 285,000 cubic metres of forest will remain in control of the Crown.

Jeff Penney, president ofNewgreenTechnology, declined an interview withCBCNews.

In a brief conversation, he acknowledgedthe company takes some responsibility for failing to move forward with the project, but said it was slowed down by government bureaucracy.

Too many hands on the file

CBCNews obtained hundreds of emails from the provincial government through an access to information request, related to NewgreenTechnology.

Thoseemailsshow frustration between the company and the government over the speed of the process, the allocation of timber rights and questions about the technology being used.

They also show frustration within government about multiple departmentsbeing involved on the same issues.

"This file is one of those too many dept. involved ones," wrote TedLomond, deputy minister of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation, to his colleagues when a requestfrom Penney went unanswered for several days.

"I think this just highlights the need for leadership on major projects so that we have a clear, well-understood path forward by governmentand proponents on these projects," wroteDarryl Genge, another senior staffer in the industry department.

Sides butt heads over trip to U.S.

Proving the technology behind the project also proved to be a painful hurdle for NewgreenTechnology and a source of confusion within government.

In March2016, the forestry department wrote to Penney and requested proof of technology. The company arranged for a member of government to tour several facilities operating in Tennessee onbiodieseltechnology from Proton Power Inc.

A month later, a senior staffer in the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture replied and said itcouldn't afford to send anyone until after the business plan was accepted.

However, in the following months, the government rejected thebusiness plan and cited proof of technology as an issue.

"This is a source of extreme frustration for [Newgreen]," Penney replied in an email."Any shortfall in understanding does not lie with [us]. We have made every reasonable effort to satisfy any concerns."

Within government, at least two senior staffers with their hands all over the file were unaware that InnovationMinister Christopher Mitchelmore had alreadyvisited the Proton Power plant in Tennessee and signed a non-disclosure agreement regarding their technology.

"It seems everyone is in on this file except you and I," Mitchelmore's deputy minister wrote to Rita Malone, an assistant deputy minister in the department.

Lomondsigned off on theemail by saying, "Oh my."

That email was on Aug. 11, 2016 three months after Mitchelmore visited the plant, and two months afterCBCNews reported on it.

Other issues the government wanted clarification on were sources of financing and a completedmarketing plan.

BotwoodMayor Scott Sceviour said he hasn't dealt with NewgreenTechnology in several months and believed the deal was dead. The town is now speaking with a different company about using its facilities for a wood-fibre industry.

One councillor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the company came to town and raised people's hopes with promises itcouldn't keep.

Penney, meanwhile, said the company will keep trying to work with government and it has not given up on theBotwoodproject yet.