CLEARFIELD – Sunnyside Ethanol LLC is getting closer to breaking ground on their Curwensville site. According to Rob Swales, executive director of the Clearfield County Industrial Development Authority, a $1 million Department of Community and Economic Development grant was issued to assist in the clean up of the former Howe’s Leather Leather Co., the future site of Sunnyside’s proposed ethanol plant.
Part of the process that Sunnyside needs to go through is the clean up of the brownfield site. According to the just-issued request for proposals, approximately 35,000 cubic yards of tannery sludge will need to be removed and about 49,000 cubic yards of clean backfill material will need to be brought in to to replace the brownfield material.
Potential bidders will have an opportunity to visit the property, located on 50 Cooper Road in Curwensville, Feb. 22, at 1 p.m. in order to assess the work to be performed.
Sealed proposals will be received by the CCIDA at 250 Technology Drive, Suite 1, Clearfield, PA 16830 until 3 p.m., March 9 marked, “Attention: Sunnyside.” Proposals will be publicly opened and read aloud for bid tabulation purposes immediately thereafter. Copies of the drawings, specifications, and other contract documents are on file and may be obtained from the CCIDA by prospective bidders upon deposit of $100 for each set and which deposit is non-refundable.
Swales said that he is currently in the process of getting signatures for the grant to get the ball rolling.
The process of making ethanol uses corn or other starches or sugars to create a clean-burning, high-octane fuel additive. The electricity to fuel the procedure will come from a waste coal-fired power plant. What is left after the ethanol is made is carbon dioxide, a product used to make dry ice and for carbonation in soda and beer, and distillers dry grain, a nutrient-rich livestock feed.
In January, Sunnyside Ethanol CEO Eric Wallace said they had one more permit to be granted before ground can be broken.
