ELK POINT, S.D. (AP) - Opponents of the Hyperion oil refinery used Earth Day as the catalyst for a sidewalk protest outlining their concerns about environmental fallout from the $10 billion project.
About three dozen people gathered in front of the Hyperion Resources office Tuesday, grabbed some homemade signs and walked several blocks down Main Street to the county courthouse and back.
Paul Lesseck said the hourlong protest was a chance to stand up and be counted six weeks before a countywide vote that will assess public sentiment about the project.
"I think it's immoral that we are putting in a new oil refinery and are not giving solar and wind energy a chance," said Lesseck, a retiree who said he lives within a mile of the proposed refinery.
The Hyperion Energy Center would be built north of Elk Point and process 400,000 gallons of crude oil daily. If the project goes forward, construction could begin in 2010 and last about four years.
The Hyperion office door was locked and the blinds were drawn Tuesday. The company said the office was closed in observance of Earth Day so employees could pick up trash along rural roads in the county.
"This is one small thing we can do to help protect the environment in Union County and the region," Hyperion project executive Preston Phillips said in a prepared statement. "It's part of our commitment to be good neighbors."
Opponents have sued to challenge a county commission vote that rezoned 3,300 acres of farmland for the project.
"The commissioners never paid one speck of attention to us," said Burdette Hanson, another landowner near the refinery site who carried a "Just Say No" sign.
Hanson said he hopes the project can be stopped on the grounds it would destroy thousands of acres of natural drainage.
Union County's June 3 primary ballot includes a referendum on the project. Texas-based Hyperion Resources has said it supports the public vote.
Hyperion Resources describes the proposed complex as a "state-of-the-art" refinery and gasification power plant that would be among cleanest and "most environmentally friendly in the world."
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