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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Ted Harhai |
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Harhai applauds targeting Westmoreland landfill for methane harvest
HARRISBURG, Nov. 13 – State Rep. Ted Harhai, D-Fayette/Westmoreland, today said he's glad that the Commonwealth Financing Authority saw value in a plan to use methane gas produced by the Greenridge Landfill to generate electricity.
The authority on Tuesday approved a $1.5 million low-interest loan to Pittsburgh-based Green Gas Energy LLC to construct a landfill gas processing plant in East Huntingdon Township. The gas generated by the refuse underground at the landfill near Scottdale will be processed into methane that meets pipeline specifications and sent to a gas-turbine generator for conversion to electrical power.
The loan will be provided at a 1 percent interest rate, much lower than available on the commercial market. The overall cost of the project is just under $9 million.
In addition to processing waste methane into electrical energy, the project is expected to create at least five jobs.
"It's great that we're finding a productive and environmentally friendly use for land that otherwise would provide scant benefit, if any, for the future," said Harhai. "It is essential to our economic and environmental future that we harness all possible sources for providing clean, affordable power, and we want to put Pennsylvania at the forefront of that industry."
The state Department of Environmental Protection endorses the project and considers it to be technically viable.
The Commonwealth Financing Authority, in addition to its own operations, oversees the following state programs: Building PA, Business in Our Sites, PennWorks, New PA Venture Capital Investment, New Pennsylvania Venture Guarantee, Tax Increment Financing Guarantee, Renewable Energy program, First Industries Fund and Second Stage Loan program. Each of these efforts targets state investment to attract private capital for economic development in all regions of the state and for all types of industries.