P&G RECEIVES AIR PERMIT, PAVING WAY FOR EXPANSION

Construction of a $350-million, 850,000-square-foot expansion to Procter & Gamble Paper Products Co.'s plant north of Cape Girardeau will start any day.

A verbal approval for a long-awaited air permit has been received by P&G.

"This is the permit we have been waiting on," said Mike Jennewein, human-relations manager at P&G. "We've been hoping that we could start construction by early February. With this permit we're ready."

P&G announced last April that it would expand its Cape Girardeau operation to enable the production of tissues and towels.

The $350 million addition is one of the top three industrial projects in Missouri over the past decade, and will result in more than 350 new jobs.

The new buildings will result in 20 acres under roof and will produce Bounty towels, Charmin bath tissue and Puffs tissue paper.

The P&G plant, which has more than 1.3 million square feet, or 30 acres under roof, is the largest manufacturer of disposable diapers in North America. It employs 1,325 workers.

A number of things have been taking place at P&G since the April announcement.

Dirt work at the site of the new building just north of the existing plant is almost completed. Pile testings have been going on. "We can start driving pilings now," said Jennewein.

During the interim since the April announcement, a 1.1-mile section of Route J north of the plant has been relocated to make way for the expansion.

Union Electric Co. has removed, rerouted and replaced a transmission line on P&G property, which will provide a substantial increase in the demand for electricity by P&G.

And P&G has received two major permits during the past six months.

The plant received its wetlands permit form the U.S. Corps of Engineers in August. Late last week the company received its air permit.

It was announced late last year that three companies -- Fru-Con, Fluor Daniel Construction and Valmet of Sweden -- will team to build the plant.

P&G's tissue and towel business has grown at an average rate of about 8 percent a year during the past five years.

The company will build two paper machines and associated converter equipment for the Cape Girardeau plant. Each new paper machine will add approximately 65,000 tons of annual capacity. The first machine will start operations in January or February 2000, with the second to start up six to 18 months later, adding even more workers.