AmeriCarbon Products Could Be Game Changer For Southern West Virginia
By Mary Catherine Brooks
September 26, 2022 - AmeriCarbon Products could be a game changer for Wyoming County, state Sen. David “Bugs” Stover, R-Wyoming, believes.
Headquartered in Morgantown, the company plans to build the United States’ first coal-to-carbon processing plant of its kind in the new $7 million Barkers Creek Industrial Park, located near Mullens.
The company will create a new industry in carbon products manufacturing, creating jobs while diversifying the local economy, explained Mike Goode, Wyoming County Economic Development Authority chairman.
Dave Berry, CEO AmeriCarbon, left, and Mike Goode, chairmen of the Wyoming County Economic Development Authority, look over a drawing at Barkers Creek Industrial Park where a new Morgantown-based company is aiming to bring the process of converting coal tar to coal tar pitch, a crucial ingredient in the making of carbon products. The project will create 50 to 100 high-paying jobs for the southern West Virginia area.
Photo: Rick Barbero/CNHI News, West Virginia
“This is a new concept for Wyoming County,” Goode said, “but I think it will be very good for the county.
“I am real excited about this project,” Goode emphasized.
The EDA has been working on bringing this project to Wyoming County for a while, Goode noted.
“This company will be a little different than the underground mining jobs and oil and gas jobs that we’ve had here in the county,” said Christy Laxton, county EDA director.
“Fifty to 100 high-paying jobs could be a game changer,” Stover noted.
“This company can use the carbon from freshly mined coal, from slate piles, or slush ponds to make carbon-based products, not burning the hydrogen from coal but using the carbon,” Stover said.
In three to five years, converting coal into carbon products is projected to jump from the current $10-billion-a-year industry to a $100-billion-a-year industry – and Wyoming County could play a significant role in the market.
Currently, China has three-quarters of the global market because it has the most coke ovens, Dave Berry, AmeriCarbon Products’ CEO, said during a recent meeting at the industrial park site.
AmeriCarbon Products has its research and development facility in Morgantown.
The company wants to take advantage of West Virginia’s significant bituminous coal resources, which is best for the carbon process, and use it for something besides power, Berry said.
“West Virginia could be at the hub of the global market,” he said.
The eco-friendly process can change the characterization of coal tar pitch and tailor it to the specifications of developers and carbon product companies. Those products could include carbon fiber, structural panels for radar absorbers, graphite and carbon electrodes, lithium batteries, along with conductive and insulating foams.
Coal-tar pitch is a thick, black liquid which remains after the distillation of coal tar. It is used in asphalt products, coatings, some paints, roofing materials, paving, among other products.
Opening the plant is not something that is going to happen overnight, Goode emphasized.
The project is in the design phase – designing three shell buildings, planning where the buildings will be located, as well as where utilities need to be placed, among numerous other details.
The final design will also include room for future expansion.
It could be as long as 36 months before the plant is fully operational, according to officials.
“The shell building construction project consists of a 20,000-square-foot building, a 5,280-square-foot building, and a 1,800-square-foot building with associated site work,” explained Eric Combs, Region I Planning and Development Council project manager/GIS specialist.
“Project elements include a roadway, parking, landscaping, site utilities, architectural, HVAC, fire protection and appurtenances,” Combs said.
One building will be used as a carbon manufacturing facility, another will be used as a coal prep facility, and the third structure will house a lab and office space, Laxton explained.
Funding for the $4.8 million shell building project includes a $3.9 million U.S. Economic Development Administration American Rescue Plan Act Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant, a $200,000 Wyoming County Commission grant, a $100,000 Wyoming County EDA Grant, and a $675,000 West Virginia Department of Economic Development Governor’s Closing Fund Grant.
The project is awaiting the Notice to Proceed per the grant funding and environmental clearance for construction on the property, Combs noted.
AmeriCarbon will generate another $85 million in private investment in the industrial park.
The specialized equipment needed for the plant is also being designed and will be built off-site, then moved into the new facilities, according to Berry.
Once operational, the plant will process from 100 to 200 tons a day, Berry said, and operate around the clock, seven days a week, using three shifts.
The industrial park is the property of the county EDA, Laxton explained, and AmeriCarbon will lease the property.
The company will need the entire park, Berry said.
Once the plant is completed, AmeriCarbon is expected to create about 40 jobs to begin.
As the company grows in Wyoming County, the total number of jobs is estimated to increase to about 70.
The average pay for the jobs will range from $50,000 to $75,000 in addition to benefits, Laxton said.
Management positions will pay about $120,000.
Located between Mullens and Herndon, the 10.85-acre industrial park stretches between the Norfolk Southern Railroad and Barkers Creek, just off W.Va. Rt. 10.
The county EDA purchased the property – the former Lusk Lumber site – in 2011.
The industrial park has water and sewer on site and is not located within the floodplain, according to officials.
Environmental remediation site work was completed with a $200,000 federal Brownfields Assessment Grant from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Laxton said the industrial park was marketed by using three-dimensional designs to show what it could look like.
With the brownfields work completed, officials were able to “hit the ground running” when contacted by the company, Laxton noted.
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito met with county Economic Development Authority members and other officials during a one-hour session in April.
Through “Congressionally Directed Spending” items, previously known as budget earmarks, Capito has provided $850,000 for a new access bridge for the industrial park, along with $835,000 to improve and increase the electrical power at the park.
The current bridge access for the industrial park has severe weight restrictions, Laxton said.
Once completed, the industrial park will have two access points, Combs said.
“Senator Capito has been very supportive of our efforts. She’s been very supportive of Wyoming County,” Goode emphasized, “and we’re very grateful for her support.”