About

History

The Riverbank Industrial Complex (RIC, formerly known as the Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant) is located at the southeastern edge of the City of Riverbank, 5 miles north of Modesto, 75 miles east of the San Francisco Bay Area and 75 miles south of Sacramento, in the heart of the Central San Joaquin Valley. The facility began operation in 1943 as an aluminum reduction plant for military supplies. It closed in 1944 and was used for storage until 1952, when the Norris Thermador Corporation was contracted by the U.S. Army to manage the property and produce ammunition supplies for the military. At the height of production, as many as 3,500 individuals were employed on the site. In the 1990′s, as production waned, the Army leased excess space on the site to private tenants through the U.S. Army’s Armament Retooling and Manufacturing Support (ARMS) program. This allowed a variety of private business tenants involved in manufacturing and light industry to operate on the site and take advantage of its amenities.

The RIC is composed of two non-contiguous sites, totaling 173 acres. The Main Site, located at the southeast portion of the Riverbank city limits, comprises 146 acres and contains numerous structures, including the original aluminum smelting plant and military installation, as well as several structures that have been added since the early 1950s. Large portions of the Main Site remain undeveloped. Another parcel of about 27 acres is located just north of the city limits, along the Stanislaus River. It was formerly used as an evaporation and percolation pond for the treatment of industrial wastewater.

The Riverbank Industrial Complex formerly housed an ammunition production facility employing about 3,500 people and before its conversion to civilian use, which today including approximately 35 companies employing around 650 people. Under the terms of the Master Developer Agreement and as the owner of the properties as parcels are transferred, Aemetis will manage current tenants, utilize existing production facilities for new tenants or as production facilities, and develop vacant portions of the site with planned renewable fuels and carbon sequestration facilities.

The Aemetis agreement to acquire the Riverbank Industrial Complex paves the way for a clean energy economic and environmental renaissance in the California Central Valley.

Renewable diesel meets the same standards and quality controls requirements of traditional petroleum diesel. Renewable diesel performs comparably to traditional diesel but contains dramatically lower tailpipe and lifecycle emissions.