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By Michele Smith
The Times 

Columbia Pulp Pilot Plant at Pomeroy is a Beehive of Activity

Smaller facility will provide training for employees at the larger Lyons Ferry facility

 

Michele Smith

An employee at the Columbia Pulp Pilot Plant in Pomeroy works next to a new boiler, which will provide steam for the straw-to-pulp conversion process.

POMEROY--The Columbia Pulp Pilot Plant, located at the Port of Garfield in Pomeroy, is a hub of activity.

"It's busy here, which is good. It's what we want," said Kyler Lovgren, maintenance manager at the plant.

Lovgren said that about 20 people are currently working at the pilot plant.

"It's moving fast. A couple of months ago we had hardly any equipment, and now it looks like this," he said pointing to all of the workers and complicated machinery.

So far, Lovgren said, there have been no injuries or incidents in the 6,000 hours clocked at the plant. "That's something we're really proud of."

This little facility has all the components that its bigger sister at Lyons Ferry will have, Lovgren said. It's just a scaled down version. All operations and maintenance people will receive their training at the pilot plant before going to work at the Lyons Ferry Plant.

"With this plant we have the ability to get them involved in this process and not worry about having to train them during the start of Lyons Ferry," said Lovgren.

The Lyons Ferry plant will employ people with entry level skills up to people with an industrial background, Lovgren said. The operation side of things will be about production, and staff will be handling the straw as it comes in, loading and unloading it, and generally operating the plant.

On the maintenance side are craft people, from electricians to welders and millwrights. The maintenance crew is responsible for "predictable, preventable and corrective" measures, he said.

Lovgren said that, including himself, there are six permanent full-time employees working at the pilot plant, all of them local. Some of Columbia Pulp's hires are involved in the pilot plant construction, he added.

Lovgren said the primary focus of the pilot plant is on lignin, which is a co-product of the pulp-making process, and can be used for dust control, de-icing, and for animal feed. "We hope to get co-product out this month," he said.

Lovgren said enough straw will be delivered each day to the pilot plant to supply multiple shifts. The straw will be processed, and 15 tons of pulp created each day. The lignin will be shipped to customers by truck in 300 gallon square totes.

Port of Garfield Manager Diana Ruchert said the Port signed a lease with Columbia Pulp in February, and she is pleased to have the plant at the Port.

"We already have six full-time employees from Pomeroy. It's hard to find good paying jobs. We haven't had that in a long time because we are a declining ag. community," she said.

Ruchert said keeping local young people living and working in the community is the biggest benefit from having the pilot plant on site. Other benefits include improvements made to the Port's electrical power panels, and additional water and sewer revenue for the city.

She said local land and housing prices are going up. She doesn't know if that is because of Columbia Pulp or not, and that could be good or bad depending on perspective.

Ruchert said she hopes to see some spin off business, from Columbia Pulp's presence, as well. "They are super great to work with, from the owners, down," she said. "I hope it helps our small rural communities."

She said lots of interested people are stopping in to sneak a peek at the goings on, and Lovgren said the gravel road behind the plant has seen quite a lot of traffic, as well.

"People drive by to look and come back the other way to get a better look," he said.

 

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