GILBERT — An informational meeting will be held in Gilbert Thursday by the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) to provide area residents an opportunity to voice their opinions on the issuance of an air quality permit for the construction of a coal to gasoline plant at the Mingo Hybrid Energy Center.

TransGas Development, LLC, a New York based energy company specializing in advanced energy project development, plans to build the facility, investing an estimated $3 billion.

Aaron Daley, project director for TransGas, said while some of the cost will be for specialized equipment shipped to the site, approximately $1 billion will be spent locally for steel, concrete, and supplies, along with salaries for some 3,000 skilled trades required to construct the plant over a three year period.

Once operational, the plant will employ an estimated 300 plus full time staff and generate an equivalent number of jobs in direct services. Indirect jobs are expected to exceed 1,000.

Plans for the plant include using Exxon Mobil’s specialty chemical technology as the key part of the process.  The world’s largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, Exxon has only committed to a handful of similar projects worldwide.

The 300 acre site is part of a planned post-mine land use, approximately six miles north of the junction of West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky near Wharncliffe, along the path of the King Coal Highway. TransGas President Adam Victor said his company the location is ideally suited to fit the needs of the project. The site is adjacent to a Norfolk Southern rail spur, and is within five miles of the Guyandotte River.

The project is currently in the process of obtaining all the applicable permits, with the air quality permit from the DEPcurrently under consideration. The department will receive comments from the public about the plant under Dec. 18.

Baring unforeseen problems, Victor said, the project should begin seeking contractors in the third quarter of 2010 and start production in 2013.

According to an study performed by Marshall University in August 2008, the plant would impact not only Mingo County, but those within a 75-mile radius of the facility, including parts of Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia. The study estimated an annual economic impact of $70 million.

The plant would use approximately 8,300 tons of coal daily to produce 750,000 gallons of premium gasoline, one third of the gasoline used in central Appalachia.

The technology used in the plant is not new. The coal gasification was developed by a German company, Udhe, in the 1920’s and the conversion process by Exxon Mobil in the 1970’s. The plant would use what is basically a three step process. Mingo County Redevelopment Authority Projects Director Randall Harris sat down with the Daily News to explain the procedure.

“Coal gasification is a chemical process,” Harris said. “It does not involve combustion at any point as it is purely a chemical process. The chemical reactions take place in a closed environment.”

Harris said the first part of the process is to combine coal with steam and oxygen under high temperatures and pressures.

“Under these conditions,” he explained, “molecules in the coal are broken apart and undergo chemical reactions that produce a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and other gaseous compounds.”

All but the carbon monoxide and hydrogen are removed and either converted into products or rendered safe. The next step in the process makes methanol from the mixture. Methanol is the simplest form of alcohol.

Making gasoline from methanol is the part of the process that will be carried out by the Exxon Mobil technology. Gasoline is produced through a series of secondary chemical reactions. The TransGas coal to gasoline plant will produce ultra-clean Premium 92 Octane gasoline.

The only discharges from the process are air and some solid discharges, Harris said. The discharges into the air have been studied by the WV DEP, who determined the amount of discharges below safe levels, and classified the plant a minor source of pollutants.

Besides the value-added opportunity for coal that has never existed in the region, Harris said, the plant’s ability to use non-compliance coal opens up markets for underground seams that have been historical ignored, potentially adding even more employment opportunities.

Among those scheduled to attend the meeting in Gilbert Thursday evening are local entrepreneur Buck Harless, Southern West Virginia Community College President Joanne Jaeger Thomblin, the Mingo County Commission, the Logan County Commission, and Mingo County Redevelopment Authority Executive Director Mike Whitt and projects director Randall Harris.

“The public is encouraged to attend so any concerns they may have can be addressed,” Whitt said.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 17, at the Larry Joe Harless Community Center. Those wishing to make a comment will need to arrive early to sign in.