GREENFIELD — Northeast Biodiesel, the worker- and consumer-owned cooperative that in 2008 set out to produce 1.75 million gallons of biodiesel fuel each year using recycled vegetable oil from restaurants and catering facilities, is selling its 179 Silvio O. Conte Drive facility.

In an interview Wednesday, Northeast Biodiesel President Lynn Benander cited technical issues with the facility’s processor and 5,000-gallon tank, millions of dollars of debt as well as a lack of support from state and federal governments as primary reasons for the plant’s closure.

“It’s years where we haven’t done really anything here, waiting for the right environment to be able to launch. At this point, we have to launch and the environment’s not right for us. We have too much debt in order to be successful in today’s regulatory environment,” Benander said. “We knew when we put our money in that that was a possible outcome. We listed all the risks and everybody knew that it was a high-risk venture. It’s going to be hard to let all the workers go. A lot of people invested a lot to make it happen.”

The venture to build a factory was first announced in 2004 by then-U.S. Rep. John W. Olver — who secured a $300,000 renewable energy grant to get the project rolling — during a press conference at the Cooperative Development Institute’s Federal Street headquarters.

Although the plant anticipated opening in 2018, financing fell short. In 2022, however, Northeast Biodiesel refinanced the business with approximately $1.3 million in start-up loans from large institutional lenders. Launch financing included $500,000 from MassDevelopment, $650,000 from The Life Initiative community investment fund, $75,000 from the Franklin County Community Development Corp., $75,000 from the Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF), and $64,000 from the Cooperative Fund of New England.

Common Good, a nonprofit financial institution for community empowerment; Rudolf Steiner Foundation, a donor-advised fund; and 104 local lenders and investors provided earlier contributions.

The company expected to launch in January, but Benander said by the time the IRS was contacted to sample the produced biodiesel to qualify the business for a $1 per gallon federal incentive, the plant had run short of funds to start the business.

“State, local and federal permitting and compliance requirements added years onto the plant design, build and approvals process, which ran up the start-up timeline and start-up costs. There were some local officials who intentionally even made it difficult and expensive,” Benander wrote in a statement. “Our lenders are working collaboratively with us to find a buyer and create the best resolution for Northeast Biodiesel and further our mission — making a low-carbon, biodegradable, sustainable fuel for our diesel engines and oil heat systems in Greenfield, Massachusetts.”

Seated next to an assortment of glass jars, each containing biodiesel samples, Biodiesel Operations Manager Brian Clark, who worked to install the processor and establish a computerized system, said he was disappointed to see the plant close, but is grateful to the operation’s lenders, who he said opted not to foreclose on the property.

“I spent the last two and a half years here full-time on a volunteer basis. I’m ready to get back to the rest of my life,” Clark said. “It’s disappointing to not be successful. I put a lot of energy into this, not to mention money that I’ve invested in employment as well.”

Benander said the site’s enormous main tank, around which Northeast Biodiesel had to construct its building, will be included in the sale alongside the facility’s processor. She said she hoped the 15 years of labor put into establishing the operation would be of use to its next owner.

“I feel like I’m at a kid’s high school graduation and the kid doesn’t know what to do next,” Benander said of the facility. “It’s a very cool building on a beautiful piece of land in the industrial park that makes something that the world needs from a waste product. It’s being sold inexpensively, given all that’s gone into building it. A new owner would have a good chance of doing something cool here for this community, and we’re really hoping that somebody will rise to the challenge.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.