Alan McKim, chairman and CEO of Clean Harbors, tours its new hazardous waste incinerator facility in El Dorado on Dec. 6.
Clean Harbors unveiled Tuesday the $120 million expansion of its El Dorado facility, which it said will create 120 full-time jobs.
The company said it added a third commercial hazardous waste incinerator, the first to come online in nearly 20 years, to the 370-acre facility, which specializes in high-temperature destruction of hazardous and non-hazardous materials. It brings the facility’s capacity to about 160,000 tons each year from 90,000 tons previously.
Clean Harbors received three incentives through the Arkansas Economic Development Commission:
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Advantage Arkansas, which provides an income tax credit equal to 2 percent of the annual payroll from the new jobs created.
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A $900,000 Community Development Block Grant for infrastructure improvements related to the expansion.
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$400,000 for training.
AEDC Director Mike Preston attended a news conference marking the opening of the expansion, and said the new jobs would pay an average wage of $22 an hour, generating about $13.7 million in payroll.
Ron Hines, senior vice president of U.S. incineration operations for Clean Harbors, told Arkansas Business that entry-level workers earn the $22 wage, with hourly rates topping out at $29. He said the company had already filled 90 of the new jobs and would fill the remaining 30 based on the facility’s growth.
Preston said the $120 million is “no small investment. Any time a company spends upwards of $30 million dollars, that shows that they have a vote of confidence in the community; they have a vote of confidence in the state.”
CEO Alan McKim called it the “world’s most advanced incinerator” and said it would help the company protect the environment for future generations.
The incinerator’s air emissions control technology also meets the most stringent Federal Clean Air Act standards, Clean Harbors said.
The permitting process took two years, and another two years were needed for construction, so Tuesday marked the culmination of a four-year project and the largest single capital infusion into a facility in the company’s 36-year history.
With the expansion, the El Dorado facility now employs 375 people, including engineers, maintenance mechanics, welders, pipe fitters, hydraulics operators, drivers and industrial service technicians, according to a news release.
Hines said the new hires include those controlling the computer systems that run the incinerator, outside operators that monitor valve and control system, maintenance people, electricians, forklift drivers and facility technicians.
He said the company expanded because it needed additional capacity to meet growing demand in the market.
“We started with looking at all of our states and locations and evaluation. We did a whole checklist of questions … The location that best fit the needs of growth and opportunity was El Dorado. We had really good employees,” Hines said. “It’s employees were very proactive about growth and opportunity. Then, also, the local site’s relationship to the county, the city and the county and to the local representives; it’s just a good relationship and everybody worked well together. The state came back with an economic proposal and everything tied together with that. It was a good opportunity for everybody.”
He said El Dorado being a Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Star Site was a plus too.
Hines said the site in El Dorado now has the largest capacity of the company’s other five incinerator sites. Clean Harbors has more than 50 facilities permitted to treat hazardous waste. It has more than 250 locations, including sites that collect waste or perform other services for customers.
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