Sen. LaValle (D-Beaver) and Representatives Biancucci (D-Beaver) and Veon (D-Beaver) announced this week the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority approved the financing of a $20 million bond to help fund the installation and expansion of pollution control systems at the Bruce Mansfield power plant in Shippingport, Beaver County.

The money raised by the state-backed bonds will be used to defray some of the expected $75 million cost to expand and install new equipment at the plant’s current Forced Oxidation Synthetic Gypsum facility.

The Bruce Mansfield plant not only burns 6 million tons of coal a year, but the sludge produced by its air pollution control equipment is used to manufacture wallboard at a facility across the street from the plant.

Over 1,200 tons of scrubber sludge are recycled every day by the facility which employs over 100 people.

PEDFA provides tax-exempt and taxable bonds to be used to pay for up to 100 percent of costs to finance land, building, equipment and working capital to help create jobs.

3/11/2005