EcoTech Fuels eyes Newcastle

6 Jul 2021


Life may be brought back to the old sawmill east of Newcastle after years in limbo if EcoTech Fuels, a California based company, has its way. The privately owned renewable fuels company will meet with both the Newcastle City Council and the Weston County Commission on Tuesday, July 6, to discuss plans for its Black Hills Advanced Synfuels LLC, the next step in opening a facility locally. 

 “The project will create at least 80 jobs, plus construction. Because of the high jobs multiplier impact of a project like this, many more jobs will be created in Wyoming to support the plant,” said Linda-Rose Myers, the company’s president and founder, according to her LinkedIn profile. 

The jobs created would include chemical engineers, skilled labor and entry-level work.  

The company is discussing the purchase of the old sawmill with Jim Neiman, owner of the sawmill, who, Myers said, “likes” the idea. Use of the rail tracks would be needed by the plant and has been agreed upon. 

“The point of doing the project is to reduce the incidence of catastrophic fires in the Rocky Mountain area forests, by removing dead and diseased wood, slash piles and other pre-commercial thinning,” Myers said. “That’s why we have the support of both the Black Hills National Forest Service and Region 2 of the Rocky Mountains. The National Forest Service hopes we will do similar projects in my home state of Colorado, in Montana and elsewhere in the area.” 

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