Additional Info:

PELLET PRODUCTION FACILITY NAMES ENGINEERING PARTNER (11/01/11)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Robby Johnson, Marketing Manager
The Westervelt Company
(205) 562-5445
[email protected]

FUEL PELLET PRODUCTION FACILITY NAMES ENGINEERING PARTNER

Pictured left to right are: Alf Van Weereld, E.On, Larry Frazier, Dieffenbacher, William Scott, Outreach Coordinator, Rep. Terri Sewell, Alicia Cramer, The Westervelt Company, Jon Warner, The Westervelt Company, Governor Robert Bentley, Mike Case, The Westervelt Company, Alan Harper, The Westervelt Company, Jan Groeneveld, E.On, Mike Williams, The Westervelt Company

October 31, 2011 -- Tuscaloosa, Ala. – During a groundbreaking event held Tuesday, October 25, on a 104-acre site acquired in May near Aliceville, Alabama, officials from The Westervelt Company, local and state government, and key partners - including process engineering vendor Dieffenbacher - outlined the future of a wood fuel pellet production facility scheduled to begin production in November, 2012.

Westervelt Renewable Energy, LLC, will produce wood pellets using Southern Yellow Pine, intended primarily for the export market. Off-take contracts have been finalized with two European utility providers and deliveries will begin in early 2013.

Speakers included Mike Case, President & CEO of The Westervelt Company, Jon Warner, Chairman of The Board, Westervelt Renewable Energy's president, Alicia Cramer, Alan Harper, Chairman, Aliceville Industrial Development Board and Alabama governor Robert Bentley who said, "I'm always happy when I hear of new jobs created in Alabama, even more so when they're created by Alabama companies."

The site, located on the Tenn-Tom Waterway, is the former Huyck Felt Plant, and was purchased from the Industrial Development Board of Aliceville. Construction is expected to begin early 2012 for both the production facility and barge loading area. The company will employ up to 30 individuals directly, and estimates an additional 80 jobs will be created indirectly as part of the supply and logistics chain. The company estimates the plant will produce 280,000 metric tons of wood pellets per year, expandable to 560,000 metric tons in Phase II.
"Aliceville's IDB was instrumental in our selection of this site, and I'd like to offer special recognition to Everett Owens, IDB Representative, and state representative Alan Harper, who also serves as the IDB chairman. We are excited to expand in the Aliceville community and look forward to creating new jobs in this region of Alabama," Cramer said as part of her comments.

Through both its Recreation and Natural Resources divisions, The Westervelt Company has been a corporate citizen of Pickens County since the 1950's. "We look forward to working with Westervelt Renewable Energy as they move forward with the project" Owens said.

The pellets will be produced from both biomass and plantation resources.

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Westervelt Renewable Energy, LLC is an operating unit of The Westervelt Company, headquartered in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. A leader in sustainable forest management and conservation practices, The Westervelt Company is one of the country's largest timberland owners with business operations in the timber, wood products, ecological services, and renewable energy sectors, and has interests in minerals, real estate and recreation.

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