Brooke Commission asked to support Empire, BHJ efforts
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WELLSBURG -- The Brooke County Commission was asked Tuesday to support separate efforts, by Empire Diversified Energy and the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission, to secure funds to further development in the county.
Chip Fenske, general manager of Empire South Terminal of West Virginia, asked the commission to submit a resolution of support for the Follansbee business' application for $30 million in tax-exempt bonds to be issued through the West Virginia Economic Development Authority to develop riverfront property in the city for use as a port.
Fenske -- who was accompanied by Scott Ewusiak, president of parent company Empire Diversified Energy -- said plans call for docks and other infrastructure to be built at the former site of Koppers at the city's north end and near the two 50,000-square-foot warehouses built by the company on former Follansbee Steel property.
He said while the development is not related to the proposed hydrogen hub eyed for the Empire property, it will support it, and create many jobs.
In 2020, the state Economic Development Authority issued $26 million in bonds for the development of wharfs and docks along former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel property owned by Empire.
The land is part of several thousand feet of riverfront property dubbed the Port of West Virginia and eyed for major interstate commerce, including one of several hubs in a proposed network of hydrogen fuel production and transportation facilities.
Noting the company is expected to present the resolution and pertinent documents in the near future, Commission President A.J. Thomas asked if Empire will be solely responsible for any failure by the company to make payments on the bonds.
Fenske told the panel, "Empire indemnifies the county from any responsibility."
Resident Sara DeLong asked if the warehouses will be used to store medical waste, alluding to material Empire had planned to dispose of through a process called pyrolysis, and what materials may be conveyed along the river to the port.
The Rev. Brian Knight added he's concerned about any pollution that may be created by the development.
Fenske said the warehouses are being used to store steel coils and bundles of wire, "nothing hazardous, nothing flammable." He said they aren't heated and serve solely to shelter the material from the weather.
"One of our corporate tenets is to be as clean an operation as we can be," he said, adding the company employs equipment powered by electricity and may use those fueled by hydrogen in the future.
In response to the question about materials transported on the river, Fenske said, "Nothing different from what's on the river right now."
In other business, the commission agreed to support an application by the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission for at least $3 million in federal funds from the U.S. Economic Development Authority for the environmental assessment of property for environmental cleanups.
Thomas noted funds secured earlier by the planning commission have been used to remediate property that was later developed, including the Beech Bottom Industrial Park and the present site of Fanti USA in Weirton.
He said one of the sites currently eyed by BHJ is property formerly occupied by the community of Power.
Built around a major power plant that also provided the community with electricity, its many structures are said to have been demolished and buried when the plant was closed in the 1970s.
Also on Tuesday:
• The commission agreed to provide $4,000 to the Brooke-Hancock-Ohio Victims Assistance Program for new computer equipment at the request of Brandon Kaufman, director of the program, which provides free aid to victims of crimes committed in the three counties.
• The commission agreed to open bank accounts for funds to be received by the county from class action lawsuits against makers and distribution of prescription opioids blamed for a high incidence of drug addiction in West Virginia.
County Commissioner Stacey Wise said the commission hasn't yet received its portion of millions of dollars awarded to the state but has been advised to follow the direction of state and regional boards created to determine the best use of the funds to address drug abuse.
The other account will be used for $36,728 allotted to the county from $3 million earmarked by the West Virginia Legislature for counties with fire departments supported by local levies.
• County Commissioner Tom Diserio said he has learned of two area households where residents suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning. He encouraged everyone, as they change their clocks for the end of daylight saving time, to check the batteries in their carbon monoxide and smoke detectors, the filters in their furnaces and fireplaces for obstructions.
He noted local fire departments often have devices to detect carbon monoxide and may be called if needed.