The city of Newark is using $500,000 of stimulus money to turn what we flush down the toilet into money.
The project will create approximately 20 construction jobs and then a few more after construction, but city officials said they believe the project is a good use of stimulus money because it will eventually save the city money and use green technology.
The city is investing the funding into an anaerobic digester. It basically takes the gas that comes from wastewater, the methane, and cleans it.
Then, they sell the methane back to the energy cooperative.
Officials estimate that the digester will raise approximately $50,000 per year.
"Sometime this fall, we're going to be selling gas back to the utility," said Darin Wise, manager of the city's wastewater treatment plant. "It makes it pipeline quality so it can be used, we're going to sell it back to the utility and hopefully we'll be able to bring in some revenue."
Newark has received about $8 million in stimulus money since the funds started rolling in.
Barbara Gilkes writes the grant applications for Newark and said the grants don't always create local jobs.
"It's supposed to have a ripple effect throughout the county. It's not necessarily isolated to a local community for the job creation and sustaining a job," she said.
Newark has used grants to build roads, fix houses, and in this case, turn what nobody wants into energy.
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