N.C. County Debates Wallboard Factory

Proposed $100 million factory would reuse waste gypsum from neighboring plants.

Person County, N.C., officials have approved zoning changes for the construction of a $100 million wallboard factory in Roxboro, N.C., according to a report in the Durham Herald-Sun. (Durham, N.C.).

 

The factory would recycle waste gypsum produced by the smokestack scrubbers of two neighboring power plants operated by Progress Energy, Raleigh, N.C., and manufacture it into a component for wallboard, according to the report.

 

BPB, a British company with a North American headquarters in Tampa, Fla., plans to build the wallboard plant. With the zoning changes approved by the county commissioners, the company’s request for a special-use permit is the last major hurdle for the project to clear, the Herald-Sun reports.

 

If approved, the plant is expected to employ at least 200 people and could generate more than $600,000 in tax revenue, according to the Herald-Sun.

 

According to the report, the county commissioners will vote on the permit sometime in March.