Logan County may have turned the corner on its road to economic development, Logan County Judge-Executive John Guion said. Logan Fiscal Court was told on Tuesday of plans for a new industry in the county – the first in 10 years, according to Becky McIntosh, director of Logan County Economic Development Commission. Kentucky Aluminum Processors will build an $8 million to $9 million plant near Logan Aluminum one of the countrys largest suppliers of stock for the beverage industry. The plant will supply Logan with molten aluminum that the company will turn into sheets of metal for beverage cans, according to President Jerry Sweeney. KAPs parent company, Tennessee Aluminum Processors, makes ingots that it melts down for processing. Some of those ingots may make it to Logan Aluminum through other suppliers. Logan Aluminum also receives vats of molten aluminum from other facilities. Having the molten metal travel only a short distance will address some safety issues, Sweeney said. Logan approached Sweeney with the concept of building nearby. Its something that has been in the works for two years, he said. They needed a supplier close by and we were able to agree on the terms, so thats what we did. Construction of the facility is expected to take 10 to 12 months, but environmental permits must first be approved. The permits are currently in the public comment period. The plant would be considered a minor source of pollutants, emitting both particles and some volatile organic compounds. But these are all allowable limits, Sweeney said. With todays strict Clean Air Act standards, there are very little emissions. Most of the nonhazardous particles will be collected in a bag house and then disposed of at a landfill, he said. The plant will initially employ 60 people at wages ranging from $8 to $14 an hour. Employment could break 100, Sweeney said. We are going to employ mostly local people, he said. This is a good solid industry, and we will be there for a long time. Kentucky Aluminum will be a large gas customer but it wont use a lot of water one of the things that has been a deterrent to industrial recruitment, McIntosh said. With the water plant about to be complete, I think we are on the verge of getting things to really grow, Guion said. If you have the infrastructure in place you can make things happen. The infrastructure Guion is referring to is the regional water treatment facility that is being constructed just inside the Todd County line. The facility, funded by grants and one of the largest Rural Development low-interest loans ever, will treat water that is piped from the Cumberland River in Tennessee. The treated water will then be sent to 38,000 residents in Logan, Todd and Christian counties. The water treatment facility is expected to be in operation later this year. Guion said Kentucky Aluminum is an integral part of the areas industrial growth. I think we are going to grow at a fairly fast pace in the next 10 or 12 years, Guion said.