COLUSA, CA (MPG) – A Mississippi-based biomass company is expanding to Colusa.
The Colusa City Council on Aug. 15 authorized City Manager Jesse Cain to sign a lease agreement with Glanris Colusa LLC for 37,000 square feet at the former Pirelli Cable Company.
Glanris converts wood and agriculture waste into a charcoal-like substance that can improve soil health, enhance plant growth, and sequester carbon to reduce greenhouse emissions, officials said.
Cain, along with council members Ryan Codorniz and Denise Conrado, visited the company’s operations in Olive Branch, Miss. two years ago and determined it was a good fit for the 200,000 square foot manufacturing site.
The council recently bought the property that had fallen into critical disrepair from Italy-based Prysmian Cable Systems and established the Colusa BioInnovation Center as a long-term economic development strategy.
“This project will create new high-paying jobs for Colusa and become an asset for the city,” Cain said.
The city currently has three lease agreements for the property. Its most recent lease is with BC&E Energy, a biomass company that will convert sewer sludge and other organic matter into electricity.
Glanris will lease 37,000 square feet – at 45 cents per square foot – and will occupy the remaining available footage in the building, excluding the office area. The 20-year lease includes a built-in cost-of-living adjustment not to exceed 6%, according to the resolution approved by the city council.
“This is an average for this type of industrial building,” Cain said.
Cain estimates that building improvements required for the tenant to occupy the space will cost about $275,000, which Glanris will advance, then deduct the cost from their monthly lease until reimbursed.
Jason Inof, Glanris chief operations officer, attended the March 15 meeting.
Inof informed the council that the company plans to annually convert about 40,000 tons of walnut shells and agricultural waste into carbon products.
“This will be our first industrial-scale facility in the country,” Inof said.
Inof said the company also looks to use biochar products to treat groundwater and wastewater. Like BC&E, Glanris will use pyrolysis, the application of heat in the absence of oxygen, to break down waste materials that are typically left in fields to rot.
Inof said it will be an emissions-free process, making it an environmentally friendly method to convert organic waste into beneficial carbon.
“We’ve had environmental engineers validate our process,” Inof said. “It is carbon negative. In our process, we sequester two tons of Co2 for every one ton of biochar we make.”
Inof told the City Council the plant will be free of odor and noise.
Cain said Glanris plans to begin “building out” the project this summer. In addition to creating about 30 full-time high-paying jobs in the first phase, Glanris plans to source materials and contractors regionally, and will collaborate with local farmers to acquire organic agriculture waste.
City officials said more discussions about funding road improvements are needed. The Colusa BioInnovation Center is situated on Will S. Green Road across the street from Colusa High School, raising concern from citizens about traffic safety.