Whatley, United Kingdom — CORRECTION: Whately, Massachusetts in the US - Bayer MaterialScience has plans to expand its thermoplastic factory.
Local council officials will discuss changes Bayer made to the proposed expansion design in response to concerns raised by its neighbours and the town Highway Department at the end of September. One neighbour, Isabel Jurk who owns a nearby veterinary practice requested time to have an engineer review the placement of one of two large drainage catch basins.
Fire chief John Hannum expressed concern about fire hydrant placement too and the board will also consider hiring a third-party peer review engineer to further evaluate the site plan.
Bayer first built the Whately factory around 1997, when it was known as Deerfield Urethane. In 2006, it expanded the building by 3,700m2 to accommodate new equipment.
According to Bayer, the project will add 8,800m2 to the south side of the factory and will be used for additional employees and production lines. The expansion would allow the company to hire about 20 new employees. The company previously said the expansion would bring $1m in salaries to the area.
