MUSKEGON TWP. -- The devil is in the details.  

And some of the potential demons for a proposed Muskegon Township wind farm/wood-to-ethanol pilot project pitchforked their way into a question-and-answer session Wednesday.

But the proposed developers believe the obstacles to their project are surmountable.

The biggest potential problem: serious, still-undefined soil contamination of the former Zephyr Oil property on M-120, site of the proposed development.

The principals of Plymouth-based Full Circle Developments Inc. outlined their proposal to Muskegon-area community leaders, representatives of state agencies, Consumers Energy Co., the property owners and others. Would-be developers Kristapher Mixell, Peter Brown and Adrian Fortino made the presentation at a lunch at Grand Valley State University's Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center in Muskegon.

The newly formed consulting company hopes to convert the blighted northside tank-farm property into a "green" energy production center, using a combination of government grants and private investment.

After a detailed presentation, the partners were peppered with questions from the audience of about 30 people.

The most serious immediate concerns are environmental.

Petroleum spills and leaks from Zephyr over many years contaminated soil and groundwater. The state Department of Environmental Quality, also over many years, has spent millions on a gradual cleanup through a system of 65 purge wells, with no end in sight.

DEQ staffers at the meeting noted the problem and said the state has no money to speed the cleanup, or even to define the problem by mapping the soil contamination.

David Fisher, Muskegon Township's director of community development, said the slow state cleanup has long been an obstacle to redevelopment, with DEQ easements taking up half the property.

But Brown suggested the developers themselves might be able to get the soil mapped, a long step toward solving the problem.

After the meeting, Brown said the would-be developers' next steps will be to work on several "parallel" fronts to try to move their project to reality: on environmental issues, with power customer Consumers Energy, with potential operating companies, with the property owners, with grant providers and possible investors.