A clock is ticking for promoters of what would be Arizona’s first refinery.

The state Department of Environmental Quality on April 14 announced it has issued an air quality permit for Arizona Clean Fuels’ proposed refinery in southwestern Arizona.

Under state law, the permit is good for five years but it expires if Arizona Clean Fuels does not begin construction within 18 months of the permit’s May 14 effective date, the agency said.

The agency issued the final permit following the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s acceptance in March of a draft of the state permit.

A company executive, Glenn McGinnis, said it continues to work on obtaining financing and the remaining permits it needs to build and operate the refinery.

The company has said it also is negotiating with Mexican authorities for both a supply of crude oil and construction of a terminal and pipeline to carry crude to the refinery from a Mexican port on the Gulf of California.

The refinery, which would be the first built in the United States in nearly three decades, would be located along Interstate 8 about 40 miles east of Tacna in eastern Yuma County.

The facility could produce approximately 150,000 barrels per day of motor fuels, including approximately 85,000 barrels per day of gasoline, 35,000 barrels per day of diesel fuel and 30,000 barrels per day of jet fuel. Most gasoline now used in Arizona is carried by pipelines from California and Texas. —

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