Follansbee residents debate pros and cons of proposed plastics recycling plant - WTOV Steubenville

Follansbee residents debate pros and cons of proposed plastics recycling plant | WTOV

A proposed plastics recycling plant was the topic of debate Tuesday night in Follansbee.

FOLLANSBEE, W.Va. — A proposed plastics recycling plant was the topic of debate Tuesday night in Follansbee.

Around 60 people made their opinions known at the public meeting. No cameras were allowed inside per company policy.

The public meeting, which was hosted by Empire Diversified Energy officials, drew opinions for both sides of the matter.

The plant would use a process called pyrolysis, which turns waste into synthetic gases, oils and char residue by breaking it down through high heat without oxygen.

“Incineration requires a fire triangle-heat fuel and oxygen,” said Bernard Brown, Empire Diversified Energy COO, said. “We take away the oxygen. So, it's an airtight anerobic environment and we're thermally breaking down the material that goes into the pyrolysis process.”

According to those who spoke at the meeting, the plant would directly create 25 permanent jobs and many more through construction of the facility. But those who are in opposition to the plant say the drawbacks, specifically when it comes to air quality, would greatly outweigh any benefits.

“I've spoken with residents who are very concerned for the future,” Rachel Meyer, Ohio River Valley field organizer for Mom's Clean Air Force, said. “They really want to see the area cleaned up. They want to see the air quality continue to improve.

“We've known that chemical recycling has failed for decades,” Jess Conard, Beyond Plastics Appalachia Director, said. “These facilities have notoriously had issues with fires. There are issues with air pollution, air emissions, wastewater.”

Scotty Ewusiak, Empire Diversified Energy president, said the process is safe.

“I live a half mile from here,” he said. “My kids live a half mile from here, all our family. We're really comfortable with it. The emissions are something that would be close to like two or three school buses or garbage trucks.”

Those concerns, as well as support, were heard by the group.

Ultimately, for this to possibly come to fruition, Follansbee City Council would have to approve a building permit for the facility at a later date.

“We have to issue a building permit for this,” Follansbee Mayor David Velegol said. “They have to take whatever recourse they'd need to take. But if the council says no building permit, then it will go a different way from there.”

Empire officials said they'd like to have these types of meetings every quarter, and they expect to meet again in March.

“If the city wants to partner on our community benefits meetings, we would welcome that all the way,” Brown said when asked if cameras might be allowed in future meetings. “We think that would be a very good step. But (Tuesday) is about the company being able to express what they want the public to know about us because there's been some misconceptions and some words used that we have to really clarify and so we owe it to the community and the city honestly to put that out there.”