Time is running out to break ground for a potential recycling plant that would convert solid waste into synthetic gas in the Town of Montgomery.

According to Kevin Young, an attorney representing Taylor Biomass Energy LLC, in order to secure an estimated $100 million in federal stimulus funding the project must break ground by October of this year and be five percent done by December 31.

We have to be in the ground this year or we lose the opportunity, Young emphasized.
At a Town of Montgomery meeting on July 15, about 75 residents, business owners and interested parties alike came out in general support of the Taylor Biomass Gasification to Energy Project, a proposal years in the making that could potentially bring in 82 permanent jobs and 318 construction related jobs into the region, according to the impact statement. As of June the unemployment rate in Orange County was between 7.0 and 7.9 percent, according to the New York State Department of Labor.

Planning Board Chairman Jeffrey Crist asked the Town Board at the meeting to extend the public comment period but was denied and instead the written comment period was extended to August 4. Crist and another board member expressed concern over the building and operation of the plant along with a few residents who currently live near the facility.
Jim Taylor, CEO of Taylor Biomass is a Montgomery resident and owns the Taylor Recycling Facility in the town which sorts and recycles construction and demolition waste.

“I want to build this facility right here in my hometown,” said Taylor.

Before the project can move forward zoning changes and modification of the existing Site Plan Approval need to be made as well. The project is estimated to cost $134 million and generate $384.8 million in overall economic output, with 69.5 percent of that money to be captured within Orange County from 2010 to 2019, according to draft economic impact statement released by Taylor Biomass.

The system uses circulating sand heated to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit to heat a biomass feedstock and convert it into synthesized gas that would power a turbine. The feedstock is made from construction and demolition and municipal solid waste materials. According to the impact statement less than 15 percent of incoming waste to the plant would head to landfills afterwards and is projected to generate a net 20 megawatts of energy back to the grid.

The proposed facility would handle 950 tons of municipal solid waste, construction and demolition material and 100 tons of wood waste on a daily basis according to the impact statement.

“This gives us here the opportunity to take the world stage, “said Orange County Partnership President and CEO Maureen Halahan. Orange County Partnership is a not-for-profit economic development agency.

The potential job creation would be a boon to the Orange County area according to business owners and labor unions’ members who showed up to express their opinions at the meeting.
Chris White, district representative for Congressman Maurice D. Hinchey came to the meeting to show support for the project and read a statement from the congressman.

“This project will serve as a model of how new technology can create economic opportunities while also helping to address our growing need to develop renewable energy technologies,” said White.

White said that Hinchey talked to U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, urging him to approve the loan guarantees for the proposal.

The project has also been supported by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, who invited Chu to tour the site in April.

By James Nani