Jun. 17--A U.S. Army veteran who served in Iraq plans to open a 4.2 million gallon biodiesel plant in Jackson Township.

MPG Biofuels' goal is by the end of the year to start moving equipment into a roughly 30,000-square-foot building at 5180 Commerce Drive that the company intends to buy, said Jenise McNeal, a spokeswoman for the company.

For now, Wallace McNeal, Jenise McNeal's husband, and Chris Phillips are looking to shore up financing and gain zoning approval needed to start production, she said.

Jackson Township's planning commission has started to discuss the plant. Later this month, the township's zoning hearing board will take up the issue, Jenise McNeal said.

Initially, the company plans to employ about six workers, she said.

While MPG Biofuels plans to eventually sell its fuel in Pennsylvania, the company has signed a three-year contract to sell 100 percent of its biodiesel to Tenaska, an Omaha, Neb.-based energy company, Janise McNeal said.

Manufactured from vegetable oil or animal fat, biodiesel can be blended with standard diesel to reduce carbon emissions and, in some cases, break down deposits of residue in the fuel lines left by conventional diesel, she said.

"We would love to put York County on the map when it comes to biodiesel production," Janise McNeal said.

sadkins@ydr.com; 771-2047

-----

To see more of the York Daily Record, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ydr.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, York Daily Record, Pa.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.