Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 24, 1991 TAG: 9103240205
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D12 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LAWRENCEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Law has invited local government officials across Southside and the northern tier counties of North Carolina to an informational meeting on campus Wednesday.
Law said the plant would be a way to take care of mounting trash problems.
"Every region in the nation is crying out for a viable solution to these problems," Law said.
Jim Nolting, St. Paul's director of public relations, said the college is looking for "a long-range, sustaining source of revenue from this project."
St. Paul's operating budget is about $7.5 million annually, Nolting said. The school has launched an emergency fund-raising effort to raise $350,000 to replace the campus water supply system.
Nolting said declining enrollment in recent years has strapped the college for cash. Enrollment bottomed out at about 500 students last year and rose to more than 550 for the current academic year. He said the school is hoping for more than 600 students for the 1991-92 academic year.
A year ago the college reported a debt of about $1.3 million.
The plant would be built under contract with a national waste-to-energy company. The college's board of directors has approved the idea.
Nolting said the plant would sell electricity to Virginia Power and also supply electricity for the college.
It would "incorporate within the facility the latest technology in environmental controls," according to a statement that went out with the letters to local officials.
"We view this project as a catalyst for the economy in this region and as an alternative source of energy and revenue for our future needs," Law said in the statement. "Additionally, we will develop this facility with students in mind - creating an educational laboratory for studying environment-related careers."
The 500-acre Brunswick County site the school is considering for the plant is adjacent to the campus.
The property was once a farm that helped sustain the fledgling school, which started 103 years ago as a blacks-only elementary and high school and developed into a four-year liberal arts college.
Law believes the college can help fill its coffers by helping localities meet both trash disposal and energy needs, Nolting said.
Nolting said the concept is for a waste-to-energy power plant that would draw trash from Southside and North Carolina. He emphasized that it would burn only solid municipal waste - no hazardous or medical waste would be accepted.
The operation would involve separating and marketing recyclable materials from the trash and composting organic matter. It also would be an educational facility for study and research on recycling and environmentally sound waste-to-energy operations.
The college would form a partnership with Foster Wheeler, a national developer of waste-to-energy projects, to build and operate the plant.
by CNB