Critics question grant request to restart Usk papermill

Yesterday the Spokesman-Review published an article calling into question Allrise Capital's /Merkle Standard's ability to restart the former PNC paper mill in Usk and the legitimacy of their request through the Pend Oreille County Economic Development Council for a $400,000 grant from the State Department of Commerce. According to the story:

"The company that runs a cryptocurrency operation in Usk is seeking a $400,000 grant from the state that it says will help to restart a shuttered papermill even though the site doesn't have access to the electrical power needed to operate the plant....

"The mill site, which is now home to a cryptocurrency mining operation called Merkle Standard, was told by the Bonneville Power Administration in 2022 that it could not operate both the data mining operation and the papermill without at least $40 million in infrastructure upgrades.

"Pend Oreille County Commissioner Robert Rosencrantz said he doesn't think its proper for Ponderay Industries, which owns the mill, to seek grant money if it knew it didn't have a source of power. 

"But nowhere in the request does it mention that Ponderay Industries never secured the power needed to restart the mill. 

"Asked if she believed she was obligated to accurately portray the reality to the state, Wyorbek said it was Ponderay Industries' job to provide that information.

Read the full story at: Critics question grant request to restart Usk papermill | The Spokesman-Review

NOTE: Ms. Wyorbek has recently drawn criticism by withholding that the Pend Oreille EDC owes the State Department of Commerce $300,000 from an earlier grant provided to the EDC for the stillborn HiTest Silicon Smelter. Ms. Wyorbek delayed notifying the County Commissioners (the county will be responsibility for the debt) for over four months while the continuation of her employment contract was being debated.