ELK POINT, S.D. (AP) – A proposal to build the first new U.S. oil refinery in more than 30 years in this mostly agricultural corner of the Midwest is facing a make-or-break decision at the ballot box.

Union County residents vote Tuesday on Hyperion Resources’ request to zone nearly 3,300 acres of pristine farm land north of Elk Point as a development district for the $10 billion oil refinery, billed as a potential step toward national energy independence.

The proposal has been a contentious issue in this southeast corner of South Dakota, with supporters citing economic development benefits and opponents voicing environmental and quality-of-life concerns. Both sides have been campaigning door to door.

Just under 10,000 of Union County’s 13,462 residents are registered to vote Tuesday.

The Hyperion Energy Center would process 400,000 barrels of thick Canadian crude oil a day, which company executives say would help the U.S. reduce its dependence on overseas oil. Construction could begin in 2010 and take about four years.

The company says it will leave the area if the referendum vote shows that residents didn’t want the refinery.

“That’s what we’ve said from Day 1,” said Preston Phillips, a Hyperion Resources project executive. “We want to be in a community that wants us here.”

Phillips said the U.S. desperately needs more refining capacity, and the energy center will bring in needed crude oil from a friendly neighbor to the north. The company has said it will bring in the crude oil by pipeline but has announced no specific plans for that transportation link.

The project, about 60 miles south of Sioux Falls, would create 1,800 permanent jobs and another 4,500 construction jobs over a four-year period, Phillips said. “The economic development that this project presents to the area is substantial,” he said.

Project opponent Jason Quam rejects the argument that Union County needs saving. The county is doing well economically with a low unemployment rate and one of the highest median household incomes in the state, he said.

Quam, a Union County resident with the group Citizens Against Oil Pollution, said he thinks much of the refinery’s public support comes from outside the county.

He believes residents will reject the proposed zoning change, saying they realize that a refinery would bring unneeded pollution to a beautiful area built on agriculture.

He noted that the project is supported by the state and neighboring towns and counties.

“But when it comes down to it, it’s going to be local people who are voting,” Quam said.

Hyperion billed the facility as a “green refinery,” saying it will rank among the cleanest and most environmentally friendly oil refineries in the world. J.L. “Corky” Frank, a Hyperion project executive, said the plant will have the lowest emission levels of any U.S. refinery.

If voters approve the zoning, the company’s next big hurdle is a lengthy air quality permit application being reviewed by the South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

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On the Net:

Hyperion Energy Center: http://www.hyperionec.com/

DENR’s Hyperion permits: http://www.state.sd.us/denr/hyperion.htm

AP-ES-06-02-08 1500EDT