Armed with a final environmental impact report, Kern County Supervisors weighed the pro's and con's of a proposed ethanol plant, north of Bakersfield.
If approved, the Cilion Ethanol Plant would be built at Famoso Road and Highway 99.
Cilion says the plant would ultimately produce some 55 million gallons of ethanol fuel a day.
A number of concerns surfaced again today, including groundwater usage, traffic impacts, wastewater disposal, and the cumulative impacts on air quality.
Company officials and county staff say those adverse impacts could be minimized, but not completely eliminated.
After 2.5 hours of debate, the board of supervisors voted four to one in favor of the project, with Supervisor Don Maben voting against it.
