By Jacob Moon

WELLSVILLE -- Mayor Ruth Maughan, members of the City Council and local residents attended an open house Wednesday evening by a controversial new business.

The business, Northern Utah Manufacturing LLC, takes nonfat dry milk and processes it into caseinate, a protein supplement used in many different types of food. Although the controversy surrounding the new factory has been minimal, the owners are doing all they can to dispel any animosity from Wellsville residents.

Plant manager Dave Bigelow said there used to be friction between the former owner of the factory and its neighbors. But Bigelow plans on doing everything possible to make the relationship with the people a good one.

"We are going to make all the changes we need to," he said.

Bigelow referred to a few complaints he has received since the factory commenced operation in December regarding noise levels. Some of the equipment used in the factory's processes was disturbing nearby residents. But Bigelow said he is willing to adjust the equipment to keep the noise levels below the required 50-decibel level.

The company is part of a program implemented by the Department of Agriculture that will take a surplus amount of dry milk and turn it into a more usable commodity.

Phil Kenney, managing partner with the Dairy Farmers of America, said dry milk ages and eventually is not usable. Since the milk has been sitting in storage areas for so long, there isn^t a great use for it and it will be wasted.

Kenney and his partners have devised a way to turn the dry milk into casein and caseinate. The USDA is testing this new process to see if it will be beneficial economically.

"I feel like the poster child," Kenney said.

Each year, the United States imports 350 million pounds of caseinate from other countries because it is less expensive than making it from milk in the U.S. But if the process works as planned, Bigelow said caseinate will be manufactured domestically in plants similar to the one in Wellsville, using the surplus of dry milk.

The process for making caseinate involves mixing the dry milk with water, heating it, separating the curds from the whey, washing the curds, drying the curds and collecting the final powder in the form of casein. The casein is then put through a similar process, Bigelow said, and made into caseinate.

Caseinate is not only used for its nutritional value--it is very high in protein--but is also used for its functionality. The substance is used in products from chocolate bars to whipped topping as a means of helping the ingredients hold their form.

"If it wasn't in the whipped topping, [the whipped topping] would separate into fat and water,^ Bigelow said.

Although the plant is not running at full capacity yet, Kenney said they plan to be doing so very soon and want to be good neighbors as they do.

"We have no secrets about what we are doing here," he said. "If you have any questions, just call and ask."

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