A proposed biodiesel plant for York, Pennsylvania, is closer to reality, as the city Redevelopment Authority (RDA) green-lighted a development agreement with two entrepreneurs who want to turn a long-vacant, RDA-owned industrial building into a biodiesel plant. This article from the York Daily Record says Britta Schwab and James Munene can buy the RDA-owned building for $1,000, if they also get the financing for the refinery.
Schwab and Munene will have to satisfy the RDA that they have financing lined up for the project, including $114,000 they told the authority it will take to renovate the 10,000-square-foot building. They also would have to meet other conditions spelled out in the yet-to-be negotiated development agreement, including submitting plans detailing the renovations they plan for the building, said Shilvosky Buffaloe, the city’s deputy director of economic development.
Schwab and Munene, in their presentation to the authority on Wednesday, said they would create five to 10 new jobs for workers to produce biofuel from used restaurant cooking oil and grease. They plan to provide jobs to ex-offenders, among others, at a time when many in York struggle to find work.
“We’re very excited to have the opportunity to do business in York City,” Schwab said Wednesday.
When completed, the refinery could produce up to 5,000 gallons of fuel a day by fall 2015.