Opposition to Nebraska Grant Awards Grows

A group of recyclers and equipment companies in Nebraska are protesting the plan by the state’s Environmental Trust Fund to award $1 million to Firstar Fiber Inc. The award, if approved at a meeting on April 3, would bring the total awarded to the company to $2.5 million. The company has used the grant money to build a paper converting operation in Fremont and a recycling operation in Omaha.

The group of companies opposing the grant call themselves The Nebraska Recycling and Converting Coalition. Grant money comes from proceeds from the state lottery. The trust fund recommended a total of $9.1 million in grant money recently. At the same time the agency turned away $30 million in requests.

Mike Mercer, vice president of Omaha Paper Stock, one of the members of the group opposed to the award, notes that First Fiber had promised that the grant money would be used to build a paper mill in the state. However, there has been no progress toward the construction of a paper mill in the state.

According to the Omaha World Herald, the grant money will be used to expand Firstar’s converting operations. Dale Gubbels, president of Firstar, said his company is the only business in Nebraska that converts toilet paper for consumers. It brings in tissue from mills throughout the country.

Gubbels said the grant to be voted on will fund an expansion of the toilet-tissue operation. That is essential, he said, for his company's long-term goal: building a paper mill in Nebraska. Currently, there is not a mill in Nebraska and Gubbels said the toilet-tissue operation would establish a market for paper manufactured by a mill.

Mercer also noted that if Firstar Fiber receives the funding it would be the only for-profit recycling company in the state to receive state funding the past two years.

Mary Harty, executive director of the trust fund, says that Firstar scored above the mandated level on a host of categories that are required to receive funding from the Fund. The Environmental Trust Fund looks at such issues as environmental benefits.

Additionally, Harty notes that the company were rated above average on both the unique need that Firstar addressed and the company’s initiative.

Harty notes that while most of the companies that have applied for grant money offer either collection or processing services. The goal of the funding is geared toward market development.

There were a total of 120 applicants for the grant money. A total of between $9-$10 million is allocated every year. Recycling-related companies are just one avenue for the funding. Any group, whether a private company or non-profit is entitled to apply for a grant from the trust fund.

In addition to Firstar, one other recycling-related company is scheduled to receive money through the Environmental Trust Fund.

The preliminary committee has approved the grant for Firstar Fiber. A full vote of the Environmental Trust Fund’s full board of directors will be held on April 3. To overturn the preliminary committee’s decision would require 11 of the 14 members to oppose the awarding of the grant, something Mercer feels will be a difficult task.

In a letter to Gov. Mike Johanns, the coalition called for an end to grants for Firstar and an investigation of how Firstar's grants have been handled. The coalition also would like to see a recycler placed on the Environmental Trust Fund board.