The Joint Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control and Conservation Committee will hold its first Environmental Issues Forum of 2006 featuring a presentation from Innovative Rail Concepts.

The principals of the firm Innovative Rail Concepts of Lafayette Hill, PA, Michael McNamara and Charles Nygard, will discuss the development of its unique product – a composite railroad tie manufactured primarily from recycled waste material.

Innovative Rail Concepts and its partners expect to begin full scale manufacturing in the next two months and the firm is planning to expand its base of manufacturing to Altoona within the next year and a half, using raw materials from the Commonwealth and creating new recycling opportunities for materials formerly landfilled.

The Forum will start at noon in Room 205 of the Matthew J. Ryan Building in Harrisburg.

The Joint Committee is chaired by Rep. Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango).

2/10/2006