The Altoona Blair County Development Corp. is seeking a federal grant for a feasibility study on the Appvion Spring Mill.

Appvion announced Feb. 22 that it would close the Roaring Spring paper mill causing the loss of about 300 jobs.

“Production has already stopped; we are done making paper. We have some people who are cleaning up and getting the equipment prepared to sit. They said there will be hourly employees here until April 15. You just can’t shut down the waste treatment plant. They have subcontracted with someone to take it over as of April 16,” said Mitchell Becker, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 10-00422.

Blair County Planning Commission members Thursday approved a letter of support for the U.S. Department of Agriculture grant application.

“We are proactively requesting a $95,000 grant from USDA Rural Development to undertake a $100,000 facilities feasibility study (if necessary) to provide information to potential businesses that might have an interest in reopening or repurposing the Spring Mill,” said Patrick Miller, ABCD Corp. executive vice president. “The goal is to look at existing buildings, equipment, infrastructure, transportation/logistical issues as well as permitting requirements to help potential buyers gather necessary data and information as they do their due diligence on the property. We are not certain at this time if such a study would be required, but we wanted to get the funding in place in case that type of information will be needed.”

Mirror Staff writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.