NEW YORK - Arizona regulators have granted air permitting for a proposed oil refinery that could be the first US plant of its kind built since the 1970s, the company planning to build the plant said Thursday.
The permit, which sets emissions limits, was granted by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality. The permit was first applied for in 1999. It removes a major obstacle for the proposed $2.5 billion, 150,000 barrels-per-day refinery.
Arizona, one of the fastest growing states, has seen gasoline price spikes several times in recent summers, particularly in 2003. It currently relies on California refineries for its fuel supply.
The plant, which would be built by Phoenix-based Arizona Clean Fuels on desert land 100 miles southwest of Phoenix, still must obtain several more permits.
"We will now focus on securing the remaining permit necessary in order to begin construction and ultimately begin serving the growing demand for fuel products in the Southwest," Ian Calkins, a spokesman for Arizona Clean Fuels, said in a statement.
The refinery would also need large amounts of water in a dry state and the proposed site may harbor significant Native American archeological remains, according to the science magazine Nature.
Arizona Clean Fuels plans supply the plant with Mexican crude oil which would be transported in a yet-to-be-built pipeline to Arizona.
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