Three officials from a Montana-based company were “just looking” at sites in the North Olympic Peninsula last week as possible locations to build one of their patented, self-sustaining mills, Clallam County Commissioner Mike Doherty says.
But the mere concept proposed by representatives of U.S. Bioenergy Corp. to turn “valueless” forest waste — including small branches useless to the timber industry — and transforming it into commercial wood planks and enough energy to run an industrial mill has interested more than a few people on the West End.
Forks City Attorney and Planner Rod Fleck is one of them.
“We’re very intrigued by their proposal,” said Fleck on Wednesday, a day after meeting with Roland Fjallstrom, Gary Callihan and Jeff Staska of U.S. Bioenergy Corp.
“This is something we are very interested in because we have the material [they need.]”
That material includes an abundance of small branches, tops of trees and slash created by the thinning of forests.
Until now, these materials have been viewed as either a nuisance to healthy forests or as useless for any commercial purposes.
Hence they usually go up in smoke.
Biomass energy
To companies like U.S. Bioenergy Corp., however, this material is biomass that can create a marketable product as well as be transformed into energy.
“We’ve developed a synergistic system for taking the biomass from the forest — usually wasted trees four inches in diameter and under — and making a composite forest product that is of higher value,” said Lee Tonner, a U.S. Bioenergy Corp. official in Libby, Mont.
Tonners said the company’s plan calls for its proposed mills to be fueled by cogeneration plants — possibly creating enough surplus electricity to make available for other uses.
Still homework to do
Doherty said he invited the businessmen to explore the North Olympic Peninsula and meet with private and public officials at all levels of government.
The idea, said Doherty, D-Port Angeles, was to get a better understanding of what the company would need to establish a mill while allowing them an opportunity to see the region.
“They’re just looking at this point,” Doherty said, minutes after parting with the three businessmen in Olympia on Thursday evening.
“But one of the main things they need in resources is a large supply of this small, underutilized wood.”
Doug Sutherland, state lands commissioner, said he met with the three officials on Tuesday.
“It appears to me that it’s an investment opportunity for these folks in an area where there’s significant product for them to be successful,” Sutherland said.
“They’ve asked us for additional information regarding what volume [of biomass] we could supply for their needs.
“We are in the process of doing some homework to give them a sense of what that is.”