The old Number 1 powerhouse building in the American Refining
Group refinery has started to be taken down, one brick at a
time.

On Monday, ARG President and Chief Operating Officer Harvey
Golubock said a group of refinery employees worked over the
Memorial Day weekend to take down the top two floors of the brick
building, which is being removed to make way for a new
hydrotreater.

The $20 million hydrotreater project is slated for completion in
the fourth quarter this year, ARG officials said. Part of that
project is the demolition of the powerhouse building, which can be
seen standing nearly four stories, or about 40 feet high, over the
nearby U.S. Route 219 Bradford bypass.

“It was a big job to get everything done safely and to prepare
for it,” Golubock said of the building project. “Our employees
stepped up to the plate and said they would take down the top two
floors. They did an outstanding job and gave up their weekend to do
it. That just shows you what outstanding employees we have
here.”

The crew used a large man lift to reach the top two floors;
while there, they used hand-operated jackhammers to take the
material down, Golubock said. The building was also covered in
netting to prevent any material from coming back onto the workers
and falling onto the pieces of machinery below.

According to Golubock, a third-party contractor was to remove
the building, but had second thoughts about it after discovering
they would have to take the building down piecemeal. There were
also some economic issues involved.

“They (contractor) had originally thought they could just come
in and knock it down,” Golubock said, “but they saw the proximity
to the other (refinery) units and said it would have to be done by
hand. That became a major issue.”

The building is surrounded by several pieces of refinery
equipment, along with the neighboring portion of land where the
hydrotreater will be built.

Golubock said now that the top two floors have been taken down,
the contractor will come back in and finish taking down the rest of
the building.

The building has been in the refinery for many years, and once
served as its office. It then became a coal-fired boilerhouse.

Meanwhile, right beside the building, work is still progressing
on the actual hydrotreater site.

According to Golubock, crews have been putting in concrete
foundations, some of which go down roughly 10 to 12 feet in some
areas.

“We had to dig until reaching solid ground,” Golubock said,
adding a lot of civil work has been done.

Refinery officials hosted a groundbreaking for the project on
Sept. 8. In addition to ultra low sulfur diesel fuel, the unit will
also enhance the refinery’s lube base stock production, which are
components used to make finished motor oil.

Officials said the project is several years in the making and
will help establish the long-term viability of the refinery.