RUMFORD – Two projects with the potential to bring economic and job growth to the River Valley have received solid boosts through government funding.

The first grant, from the state, will provide $70,000 for a feasibility study and proposal that is required for the River Valley Growth Council to pursue a $2.8 million federal Department of Energy grant that would be used to build a demonstration pyrolysis refinery and hydrogen production plant.

Pyrolysis turns waste wood into chemicals and fuel. Another step in the process produces hydrogen, a fuel that many believe is the fuel of the future.

RVGC economic developer Scott Christiansen, RVGC President Joseph Derouche and River Valley Technology Center Director Norm MacIntyre, together with Sen. Bruce Bryant, D-Dixfield, and Rep. Randy Hotham, R-Dixfield, met with either the governor or members of the governor’s office last week to discuss the need for the funding.

Christiansen said he did not know which state agency the $70,000 would come from, but that it was promised by Gov. John Baldacci.

A consultant with expertise in renewable energy will use the funds to write the proposal and develop a feasibility study over the next two months. The $2.8 million grant is under the federal Energy and Water bill introduced by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine.

The RVGC should know whether the pyrolysis project can go ahead by October. In the meantime, additional details on the project will be provided at the council’s next board meeting set for May 7.

The next step for redeveloping the former Diamond Mill site in Peru got a boost recently when the RVGC learned that it had received a $100,000 federal Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields grant that will be used to conduct an environmental study of the buildings and lands of the former woodworking manufacturer.

The EPA grant is one of the most important preliminary requirements for getting a federal Economic Development Administration multi-million dollar grant. The environmental assessment contract was awarded to New England-based Tetra-Tek NUS by the EPA, said Christiansen. The study is expected to start this week and take about six months to complete.

The former Diamond Mill is currently owned by the Archibald family, which plans to donate the mill to the Growth Council by autumn. The building has been vacant for several years.

If the EDA grant application is successful, the Growth Council plans to repair and rehabilitate the 164,000-square-foot building for use by a variety of industrial operations.

In the meantime, the RVGC has already started contacting prospective industrial users of the site.

eadams@sunjournal.com