Silverado's 'partners'?
Silverado's application for federal funding listed as "partners" Great Northern Engineering in Anchorage, Alaska, and The Mineral Industry Research Laboratory at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
However, an employee of Great Northern Engineering, who declined to be named, denied to WND that there was any partnership between the companies, stating GNE has simply performed contractual work for the company on occasion. Messages left for GNE owner John Riggs were not returned.
Likewise, Dr. Sukumar Bandopadhyay, director of the Mineral Industry Research Lab at the University of Alaska, stated that there was "not yet" a partnership between Silverado and the lab.
Ron Pierce, director of the University of Alaska's "Clean Coal Project" also denied there was any connection between the university and Silverado. Pierce coordinates the construction and management of the project and assists in obtaining funds for future construction activities.
The UAF Clean Coal Demonstration Project was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The project called for the assembly of a proving facility for the commercial demonstration of low-rank coal water fuel (LRCWF) production and utilization technology. The project involves construction of a LRCWF processing facility and installation of a 6.4MW (9.6MW on oil) 18-cylinder diesel engine that will burn LRCWF. A 6,000-hour demonstration period is planned to show the performance and economics of the technology in both reciprocating engine and boiler applications. After a valiant effort and over $48 million in funding, the project is currently stalled and awaiting further funding.
As indicated in its federal funding application, Silverado estimated the total cost of its project to be only $23,961,760, the estimated Department of Energy share to be $9,718,366 and Silverado's estimated share to be $14,243,394. Prior to the recent announcement, WND asked Joann Zysk, an Acquisition and Assistance Division contract specialist with the National Energy Technology Laboratory, whether Silverado was indeed a "top contender" for the federal funding, as its public statements have indicated. Zysk said that she had already been made aware of the information and added, "What they're [Silverado] putting out there is very misleading."
Asked to comment on the "partners" that denied the relationship Silverado claimed, Anselmo told WND: "They'll deny it. They'll deny being part of it, they've turned us down on a number of occasions."
Asked why would they want to deny it, Anselmo answered, "Oh, the politics have been unbelievable," citing "a lot of jealousies" and stating that "the administration [of the University if Alaska] have [sic] been working with us," adding that "one of our directors in fact on board of university [is] … Ed Armstrong."
Anselmo added, "Be careful how you cast things, we're almost there, let the grant fall. … The University will be good buddies and be wanting to join us."
Anselmo later called WND to retract the comment identifying Armstrong as a university board member.
Prior to publication of this report, Anselmo called WND and said, regarding the patent information: "I asked you not to go into this," and warned this reporter repeatedly to "be careful," adding that the project was "a big political machine," adding "you don't want to be posting that information," and to "let this [the awarding of $9.7 million in federal funding] happen."
In vague, rambling comments, he tried to persuade WND to not divulge its findings regarding the patent issue, because "they [the EERC] applied for the patent under fraudulent data." In response, Dr. Michael Jones of the EERC told WND, "We stand by our patent."
Silverado's most recent 10Q and its last Annual Report make no mention of a "revolutionary new" fuel, or of "control" over a technology, or of "proprietary rights" to the LRCWF process.
Described in advertorials as "highly evolved," the company's LRCWF project is depicted in SEC filings as "in its initial stages," "still in the start-up phase" and "not a reportable segment."
However, some of the company's heaviest spending has been on "research and development" targeted towards the development of the fuel process.
SEC filings indicate research activities attributable to the company's low-rank coal water fuel technology were at $202,034 for the nine months ended Aug. 31, 2002, and $209,656 for the nine months ended Aug. 31, 2001. |
