Tribe seeking housing firm for Gates plant

The Passamaquoddy Tribe at Pleasant Point is negotiating to bring a manufacturing firm to produce a modular building system to the plant that formerly housed Gates Formed Fibre Products in Quoddy Village. If the composite material becomes licensed for use in the United States, production work could begin next fall, following renovation of the facility this summer, according to Richard Doyle, the Passamaquoddy chief at Pleasant Point. He anticipates the plant would employ 300 to 400 people in three shifts.

Doyle says the likelihood of the facility starting up this year is "very good. If the projections go as we anticipate, we will outgrow the building." The work would then be expanded to adjacent property that is owned by the tribe, and in several years a second facility might be needed. The Pleasant Point tribal government would then discuss any expansion with the Indian Township tribal government.

Doyle says licensing of the new composite product for use in the U.S. is required because "it needs to be proven safe" to ensure it complies with building regulations. A lab at the University of Maine at Orono that is an International Code Council test facility is currently testing the material, with results expected in the near future. Certification would be through the International Conference of Building Officials.

"I'm very confident it will proceed," says Doyle. "From preliminary reports, the University of Maine is very excited about the material and hasn't found any limitations. The money's there and the facility's there."

To finance the project, the tribe is working with Landover LLC of New York City, which provides investment capital to tribes. Doyle says the investment firm is lined up, waiting for the product to be approved.

According to Doyle, the former Fiber Extrusion plant, which closed in 2001, can now be used, as the tribe took back the building at the end of November from Gates Formed Fibre Products, which had been leasing the facility from the tribe. Bonds that restricted how the building could be used have now matured, and the tribe's agreement with Gates has also expired.

The Ambiente housing system was developed by Abersham Technologies Limited and uses recycled glass as the main component of the composites. The housing system benefits the environment by using waste material that would go to a landfill. The glass is crushed and converted into glass beads and then mixed with resin to create the composite, which is similar to styrofoam blocks. The housing system is produced in a panel format that can be adjusted to numerous styles and performance requirements for different markets in the world. According to Ambiente's website, "Its high performance qualities are complemented by its affordable nature and the speed it can be built. It takes a team of eight men 48 hours to erect a house." The housing system is resistant to mould and mildew, and Doyle understands that the "virtually indestructible" material withstands hurricane-force winds and severe cold.

The first production facility is to be located in England, and the product is presently licensed for use in Canada. Ambiente intends to establish five production facilities around the world. "The tribe is the entry market in the U.S.," says Doyle.

Concerning another recent proposed manufacturing project that the tribe was pursuing, an airplane parts manufacturing and maintenance facility that would have been located in Perry, Doyle says it may resurface. "I don't understand where everybody went. I think it was a do-able project, but the tribe needed to be more hands-on."