NEWS RELEASE

New Rail Terminal Facilitates Ethanol Distribution Throughout Dallas-Ft. Wort Metroplex

MAY 29, 2008/HOUSTON/ARLINGTON, Texas – U.S. Development Group LLC (USDG) today celebrated the grand opening of the Dallas Fort Worth Rail Terminal LLC (DFWRT), a state-of-the-art ethanol handling and distribution terminal located in Arlington, Texas. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Houston, Texas-based USDG, the rail terminal will distribute a majority of the fuel-grade ethanol for north and central Texas.

“U.S. Development Group recognizes the importance of ethanol to both the environment and to our national energy security,” said Larry Padfield, Vice President of U.S. Development Group. “This terminal will help bring cleaner air to the Dallas-Ft. Worth area by more efficiently distributing fuel-grade ethanol to the metroplex.”

Located on 15 acres within a heavy industrial area, the facility is served by the Union Pacific Railroad and consists of a rail terminal, pipeline operation, truck load operation, and a mass storage facility. The Dallas Fort Worth Rail Terminal features 130,000 barrels of dedicated storage capacity, an 84-railcar high-speed offloading facility, and outbound truck and pipeline capabilities. The terminal also features an allocation program that can be customized to each customer.

“The Dallas Fort Worth Rail Terminal forms a key link in the supply chain needed to meet growing demand for cleaner-burning blended fuel,” said Padfield. “The ability to pump ethanol directly to gasoline blend terminals via pipelines significantly reduces the time and cost associated with secondary trucking.”

Ethanol, a biofuel, can be produced from corn and cellulosic biomass materials. Adding ethanol to fuel increases the oxygen in the fuel and makes it burn cleaner. Gasoline blended with ethanol helps to reduce harmful tailpipe emissions and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming and U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

USDG is an industry leader in ethanol handling and distribution terminals. U.S. Development Group companies are engaged in rail logistics terminalling, as well as designing, developing, owning and managing large-scale ethanol rail logistic centers in the United States. In addition to the Dallas Fort Worth Rail Terminal, USDG has major ethanol hub facilities in Baltimore, Houston, and Linden, New Jersey, and is currently expanding its network of strategically located terminals through North America.

Media Contact: Brent Gooden at 405-818-1900 or Meg Martin at 405-397-6156

NEWS RELEASE

First Responders Have New Tool to Help
Them Respond to Ethanol Incidents
Video Explains Necessary Materials to Fight Ethanol Fire

July 25, 2007 – WASHINGTON, DC – The Renewable Fuels Association is releasing Responding to Ethanol Incidents, an educational video detailing proper materials needed to combat potential ethanol incidents. The video is available to watch online at www.ethanolrfa.org/industry/resources/safety/.

The video is a technical document that is directed primarily at ethanol plant operators and first responders such as fire marshals. It documents Ethanol Firefighting Foam test results and educates viewers on how to deal with ethanol-related spills and fires.

To provide the information behind the video, scientific tests were conducted at Ansul Fire Technology Center in Marinette, Wis. to evaluate the effectiveness of six different types of foam. Tests were conducted on denatured ethanol (or E95) and E10 (gasohol), using the Underwriters Laboratory 162 (UL162) Standard for Safety, Foam Equipment and Liquid Concentrates. In addition, the film explores how ethanol-blended fuels are produced and distributed, in order to provide a comprehensive background for viewers.

“A dedication to safety has always been the foremost concern of the U.S. ethanol industry,” said RFA President Bob Dinneen. “With the industry growing at such a rapid rate, it is imperative that our nations’ first responders have the proper education and training to assist in an emergency at a moment’s notice. By making the video available to view on our website, we hope to communicate this message to first responders who have ethanol plants in their communities. On behalf of the RFA, I am confident that the availability of this DVD will help to combat any ethanol-related emergencies in the future.”

The video was funded by the RFA and produced in conjunction with International Fire Chiefs Association, General Motors, Independent Liquid Terminals Association (ALTA), ANSUL Innovative Fire Solutions, and Williams Fire & Hazard Control.

For more information, visit the Renewable Fuels Association website at: www.ethanolRFA.org

Press Contact: Matt Hartwig  |  202-289-3835

NEWS RELEASE

NEW YORK HARBOR ETHANOL TERMINAL NEARS
COMPLETION BY U.S. DEVELOPMENT GROUP, LLC.

JUNE 26, 2007/HOUSTON, TX/LINDEN, NJ – Pasadena, TX-based U.S. Development Group (USDG), an industry leader in ethanol handling and distribution terminals, reported today it was nearing completion of its New York Harbor ethanol hub terminal located in Linden, New Jersey.   The USDG Terminal is expected to begin receiving and offloading ethanol railcars and unit trains this August.  The new high capacity rail facility represents a significant boost in meeting the growing demand for increased ethanol distribution throughout the northeast United States.

The Linden Terminal will include a 20-railcar high-speed offloading facility, major track additions and upgrades, expanded ethanol storage and a new transfer pipeline to enable multiple ethanol movements.

In August 2006, the Linden Terminal initiated service to its ethanol customers using both inbound and outbound deepwater docks, storage tanks, and a 24/7 multiple lane high-speed truck rack.  As a result of the expansion, the Linden Terminal will be capable of handling more than 250 ethanol railcars, 100 railcar unit trains, approximately 500,000 barrels of dedicated ethanol storage, three marine berths and multiple lane truck loading.   The expansion will enable the Linden Terminal to handle a substantial percentage of the ethanol volume required to supply the entire Northeast.      

The Linden Terminal is located within a heavy industrial area served by the Norfolk Southern, CSX and Conrail railroads.   The tracks are designed to allow delivery of unit trains directly into the Terminal thereby reducing ethanol railcar congestion.  Since the railroad switching activity will be done away from any residential areas, there will be minimal impact on residential communities.   

Ethanol is a renewable fuel blended into all gasoline consumed in the regional markets.  The increased demand for ethanol has led to an increase in railcar shipments from several Midwest ethanol production plants the past year.  The new USDG Terminal in Linden represents a key element of the supply chain to distribute this critical renewable commodity throughout the region.         

The U.S. Development Group of companies are primarily engaged in the business of designing, developing, owning, and operating large-scale ethanol rail logistic centers in the United States   USDG is currently operating  major ethanol hub facilities in Baltimore, MD, Dallas, TX and Houston, TX in addition to its Linden, NJ Terminal.

www.us-dev.com

USDG expands East Coast ethanol rail terminals

US Development Group is expanding its two major East Coast ethanol terminals to expedite unit train service. USDG's facility in Linden, N.J., will begin large-scale rail service later in 2007, while its Baltimore facility, which already receives service from CSX, will begin a phased expansion that will expand its offloading capabilities.

An association of closely held companies, Houston-based US Development Group coordinates the design, construction, operation and marketing a network of rail terminals located around the US. The group has maintained a particular focus on developing facilities able to accept and efficiently process raildelivered ethanol.

In addition to the Linden and Baltimore terminals, USDG owns Bayport Rail Terminal in Pasadena, Texas, and the Dallas-Fort Worth Rail Terminal. USDG also developed and operated the Lomita Rail Terminal in Carson, Calif., which receives ethanol via BNSF’s Ethanol Express, a 95-car unit-train service originating in the Midwest. The company sold the Lomita terminal in 2006, along with most of another rail facility in Deer Park, Texas, to Kinder Morgan’s terminal group. At the time, USDG announced that it would be using the proceeds of the sale to develop new terminals in the eastern and central US.

The terminals at Linden and Baltimore are benefiting from this reallocation of resources.

The Linden terminal currently is served solely by barge and truck. The facility receives pure ethanol imported from South America and elsewhere, which subsequently is denatured, stored and ultimately blended with reformulated gasoline for oxygenate blending. The blended product can then be transloaded to barge at one of two berths or transferred for over-theroad delivery at the terminal’s full truck rack.

Although some of Linden’s capacity is already leased to specific customers, it is mainly a for-hire terminal serving an array of customers. As USDG principal Mike Day said, “We’re always looking for more business.”

The Linden terminal will have 500,000 bl of storage capacity by the end of the first half of 2007. That figure that will increase again during the second half of the year.

Rail service to the terminal also will begin in 2007 once USDG completes track construction. Day said that the terminal’s layout will be unique among existing ethanol terminals, in that it will have receiving track capable of handling 100-car unit trains, as well as a 100-car departure track able to hold 100 outbound empty cars. The resulting arrangement will not only allow full trains to enter the terminal without being broken up to fit within yard limits, but will keep inbound and outbound cars separate.

The Linden terminal is located in the Conrail Shared Assets Area. Since Conrail is owned jointly by CSX or NS, the unit trains can travel directly from the Class I main lines to the terminal, or they may be interchanged with Conrail for switching and final delivery. Day said that NS, CSX and Conrail are currently negotiating exact delivery and train crewing arrangements. Day would not estimate exactly how much ethanol will be delivered by rail, other than to say that shippers had already contracted to move “substantial volumes” to the terminal. He also said that the facility will be able to handle “at least” one 100-car unit train/day.

As for its Baltimore yard, which the company acquired and developed in 2006, Day said that progress will occur in two stages. During the first phase, USDG bought the rail yard— located in Curtis Bay, south of the city — and opened 90 railcar spots, allowing the terminal to handle 80-car unit trains. But with a limited number of offload spots, transferring ethanol from these unit trains to on-site tanks currently takes to two to three days. Hence, the second phase of USDG’s plan involves expanding the yard to 120 railcar spots and increasing tank car offload spots to 20. Ultimately, the Baltimore terminal will be able to accommodate 100-car unit trains.

Like the Linden terminal, the Baltimore facility also is equipped with its own storage tanks, barge docks and truck racks. USDG also owns 10 acres adjacent to the terminal, which Day said could be used for additional rail or truck business.

Speaking of USDG’s future plans, Day said that USDG is “not asleep” when it comes to looking at other locations for similar rail facilities. He said that the Northeast is probably sufficiently covered by ethanol terminals, but he joined numerous other observers in saying that the Southeast — including Florida — offers great potential.

Day also said that USDG’s terminals will not be expanding their scope to include other commodities, although that could change at some point in the future. But currently, “nothing else warrants it,” Day said.