CLEARFIELD – After months of anticipation, the new Continental Carbonic facility is up and running in Clearfield Borough.
At Thursday’s Clearfield Borough Council work session, Continental Carbonic Plant Manager David Schultz said the facility has been operational since Dec. 1.
He said the staff has been producing liquid carbon dioxide and dry ice in several forms.
Schultz said by the end of the week, the new facility will have delivered its 1 millionth pound of dry ice to customers.
He said the 60 workers at the plant have been producing liquid carbon dioxide and dry ice for customers in the food and beverage industry, the powdered metal industry, the automotive and medical industry and also to universities.
Schultz thanked the borough and Code Enforcement Officer Larry Mack for their assistance during the permitting process of the plant’s construction.
He said more than 50 different companies played a role in building the new plant and 80 percent of those companies were within 100 miles of Clearfield.
Schultz said there are a few job openings still available, which can be found on the Continental Carbonic Web site.
He said that is the only place where job postings for the new Clearfield plant are listed.
Schultz also complemented the staff at the facility and said he is “extremely pleased” with the quality of the work force he was able to hire and that the staff seems excited to be learning their new positions.
He said the staff works 12-hour shifts and the facility will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Schultz also thanked the residents who live near the plant, particularly the residents of Clay Street, for their patience with the construction of the plant.
He said Continental Carbonic has been doing what they can to be good neighbors. He said plans for the new facility had been adjusted to try to be as accommodating as possible for the residents.
He said lighting on the Clay Street side of the plant had been reduced to cut down on excess light for the residents during the night operations.
He said the plant had moved several discharge vents to prevent excess noise. He said there is still an issue with one vent on that side, which will be addressed in the spring.
Schultz said the staff has been producing 300-400 tons of dry ice daily. He said the facility will start having “window sales” of their products during the first quarter of 2018.
He said there have been several inquiries from meat packing and deer processing facilities and he hopes to accommodate those requests soon.
Schultz said he has been working closely with the police and fire department and also with Pennsylvania Grain Processing. He said Continental Carbonic has been working with PGP to address concerns with traffic in and out of the plant.
Schultz concluded his update by saying Continental Carbonic is looking to schedule a “media day” for tours of the new facility in January.
According to previously published GANT News articles, the new Continental Carbonic facility is collecting the carbon dioxide emissions produced by the PGP ethanol plant. The carbon dioxide is being processed into dry ice.