PLANS FOR THE FUTURE — At Wednesday’s meeting of the Follansbee Chamber of Commerce, Chip Fenske, director of business development for Empire Diversified Energy, discussed ongoing efforts and future plans by the local industry to develop riverfront property once occupied by steel mills. -- Warren Scott

FOLLANSBEE — An official with Empire Diversified Energy discussed ongoing efforts and plans to develop more than 800 acres of property once owned or occupied by local steel mills during Wednesday’s meeting of the Follansbee Chamber of Commerce.

Chip Fenske, director of business development for Empire, said those plans include expanded barge and rail facilities, the construction of a pig iron plant that could supply local and other steel mills, a plastics recycling plant and another plant used to convert waste into hydrogen used to fuel trucks.

Fenske noted Empire has applied for more than $65 million in federal grants to support, with its own investments, expansion of existing barge facilities along the Ohio River at the city’s north end.

He said the company has invested millions in environmental cleanups at the site supported by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s voluntary remediation program.

Fenske said tons of slag were dumped at the site by previous owners, some of it 55 feet thick in areas, and Empire has salvaged and sold iron scrap from and aggregate from it.

He added there had been a 120,000-ton pile of coke on the site that Empire crushed, screened and sold to a local steel mill until it closed.

Fenske showed a photo of a large pile of pig iron, “each piece about 90 percent pure iron,” that Empire plans to sell as feedstock to other businesses for steel production.

He said the company hopes to build its own pig iron plant with a capacity to produce 250,000 tons of the material each year.

Fenske noted the Empire subsidiary Trimodal Terminal has developed barge and storage facilities along the riverfront, since dubbed the Port of West Virginia, and has applied for $66.5 million in federal grants to build an 1,800-foot-long steel dock wall to support its further expansion.

With $4 million in federal funds secured by U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. and about $1 million of its own funds, Empire is pursuing improvements to an existing railroad at the site, said Fenske.

He said Empire is seeking federal designation of the rail as a Class III shortline and has learned, through Norfolk-Southern Railroad, that more than 40 percent of its cargo is transported on such segments.

Fenske noted a 33,000-square-foot facility has been built on the former site of the Koppers pencil pitch plant to serve as a plastics recycling plant with the capacity to dispose of up to 70 tons of plastics per day.

Using a process called pyrolysis, the plant can break down all types of plastics, producing a synthetic gas that can be used to power other facilities at the port, he said, while adding any remaining gas could be sold for other uses.

Pending approval of a permit by the state Department of Environmental Protection, the plant is expected to begin operations in two months.

Fenske added the port has been identified as one of several hydrogen hubs to be supported by $8 billion awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy.

He said plans call for the construction of an anaerobic digester with the ability, through micro-organisms, to break down up to 400 tons of food waste and biosludge per day into methane ultimately converted into hydrogen that may be used to fuel the pig iron plant’s furnaces and sold as fuel for large trucks.

Known as blue hydrogen, the fuel is seen as a means of reducing carbon emissions from industrial modes of transportation.

Fenske said it may take a couple of years for the plant to receive approval under the National Environmental Policy Act.

After inviting questions from attendees, Fenske was asked about a pending merger between Empire and Vivakor, a Dallas-based company focused on remediation of oil and other natural resources and its impact on Empire’s future plans.

Penske said officials with Vivakor strongly support Empire’s current plans.

“If anything, it will be better and maybe faster,” he said.

Penske said the presentation is part of an effort to inform the public about Empire’s efforts and plans and another before the Wellsburg Chamber of Commerce is planned.

He added to increase its own community involvement, Empire has hosted American Red Cross blood drives at its headquarters in the Bluewave Center, formerly Follansbee Middle School.

Pamela Wright, human resource manager for Empire, said the blood drives are held quarterly, with the next slated for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 12. Appointments aren’t required but encouraged by visiting the American Red Cross’ website at redcrossblood.org/

In other business, Chamber President Eric Fithyan announced the Monthly Monday Music Madness series of free community concerts will return to Follansbee Park this year.

Supported by local businesses, the concerts will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and include Cross Creek the Band on May 27, George Kokos and the Band on June 24, the West Virginia Army National Guard Band on July 1, The M80s on July 29, the East Street Band on Aug. 26 and Twice as Nice on Sept. 30.

In the event of rain, there are plans to move the concerts into the Follansbee Community House.

Chamber members have been invited to sell food during the performances.