Project Narrative

City of Glendale — Regular Meeting (2024-04-25)

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PO Box 600 San Felipe, Texas 77473 
(979) 885-0005 Fax: (979) 885-3208 
 
 
City of Glendale 
Development Services Dept 
5754 W Glenn Drive 
Glendale, AZ 85301 
 
RE: Pencco Project Narrative 
 
About Pencco 
At Pencco we specialize in water treatment chemistries for various applications. Our water 
treatment products include innovative, unique solutions for each customer’s specific needs. 
We are dedicated to providing personalized service and reliable water treatment products, 
based upon traditional values of integrity and trust. As part of our high-quality service, we 
have plans to expand our manufacturing capabilities by building a plant in Glendale 
Arizona to better serve and grow our clientele in the region. Pencco currently supplies the 
City of Glendale water treatment plant with ferric chloride for purifying drinking water and 
will soon be supplying the city of Phoenix similarly. The city of Mesa is also receiving 
Pencco products to help with odor control in their wastewater systems. 
 
 To move forward with this project, we are looking to receive a conditional use permit for 
the site to begin building a plant. 
 
We have a team of individuals that are working on making this project a success with a 
wide range of experience between our different departments.  
 
Adam Hawkins – Project Engineer  
Mel Blaine – COO – VP Operations/Engineering  
Roderick Abinet – VP of Product and Technology 
Keith Heasley – VP of Logistics/Transportation 
Sidney Devillier – HSE Manager 
 
 
Proposal/Site Location 
 
5090 W Camelback Rd. 
Glendale AZ 85301 
 
The proposed location for the site is currently a railyard owned and operated by Watco. It 
is located on the NE corner of Camelback Rd and 51st Ave. The site is used to offload, store 
and/or transport lumber, steel, and other materials from railcars to trucks. 6 ft tall walls 
divide the property from outside traffic and people. Access can be found through two 
sliding gates both located on the south side of the property lining Camelback Rd.  Asphalt 
covers the entire site from the entrance up to the railroad tracks.  
 
Failed
BY
DATE
Conditionally Approved
Approved

Sydney Tirella
3/7/2024
City of Glendale
Development Services Department
Planning Division
Approved Narrative for CUP24-01

The property is zoned M-2 (Heavy Industrial) and the 2040 Envision Glendale General Plan 
designates the land use as HI (Heavy Industrial). Penccos proposed project is consistent 
with the policies, objectives, and land use map of the Glendale General Plan and the 
purpose of the zone district in which the site is located. The new plant will be designed and 
operated in a manner in which it will not be  materially detrimental to the health, safety or 
general welfare of persons residing or working within the neighborhood of the proposed 
use, or have an adverse effect on the property, adjacent properties, the surrounding 
neighborhood or the city when consideration is given to the character and size of the use 
and hours of operation. No exterior signage outside the property is being proposed for this 
project.  
 
Scope of Project 
Pencco is leasing a 110’x310’ piece of the lot to build a manufacturing plant. Another 
portion on the lot will be leased to demolish an old 35’x70’ pre manufactured building and 
replace it with a small office building with parking for the plant employees.  See attached 
layout and aerial photos for proposed site. Any space not leased by Pencco will continue to 
be used as lumber and steel storage by Watco.   
 
The 110’x310’ section of land will be adjacent to the rail line to allow for unloading of rail 
cars containing hydrochloric acid (HCL) and iron ore. This facility will handle a throughput 
of approximately 500 railcars of HCL and 200 gondolas of iron ore per year.  
 
Iron Ore would be unloaded from gondolas and stored on a designated concrete slab/ 
containment area.  
 
HCL would be unloaded from Railcars (the cars being unloaded would be on track 
surrounded by asphalt that slopes into containment) and the majority of the HCL would be 
immediately added to the blending tanks to produce the end products. Approximately 
120,000 gallons of HCL would be held onsite in fiberglass storage tanks within the 
containment area to prevent production delays due to logistic constraints.  
 
Storage Capacity for 180,000 gallons of Ferric Chloride and 90,000 gallons of Ferrous 
Chloride will also be onsite via fiberglass storage tanks within the containment area. 
 
Production of the desired finished products requires the blending of HCL with Iron Ore to 
produce a Ferric/ Ferrous Chloride blend. (Primary Vessel) That blend is then transferred 
to either an oxidation vessel, where liquid oxygen is applied to yield Ferric Chloride, or a 
secondary production vessel that contains iron shavings to yield Ferrous Chloride. After the 
Ferric Chloride and Ferrous Chloride are made, they are filtered using an industrial filter 
press to remove any solids and are then stored for distribution.  
 
The entire process takes about 12 hours and approximately 8-10 of these processes will 
occur weekly. 
 
As part of the production facility a building will be constructed to house a control room, 
testing lab, electrical room, and maintenance shop. The building footprint will be

approximately 40’x50’ and include a 15’ awning for a covered work area/storage. The 
building will stand about 15’ tall.  
 
The production facility would require the addition of approximately 12-18 FRP storage 
tanks (13’ diameter x 30’ high) all of which will be contained in a concrete secondary 
containment with an acid resistant lining. The processes would happen between 5-6 
different reaction vessels. A scrubber will also be used as part of this process and be 
connected to any process equipment that has the potential of giving off vapors due to the 
volatility of HCL. 
 
A small amount of Sulfend, an iron based non-hazardous odor control product, will also be 
made, and stored onsite. Less than 30,000 gallons will be stored at a given time. 
 
The entire production area including truck/rail car loading and offloading will be sloped 
towards the common sump where runoff and spills will be contained and pumped into a 
collection tank. Any process wastewater will also be pumped into this tank and can be 
incorporated into the production process. There will be no discharge to sanitary sewer 
from the production process.  
 
Effects to Surrounding Area  
Pencco has a goal to have as little impact on the surrounding area/business as possible. 
Different areas that may be of concern to the local community are addressed below.  
 
Traffic – The site will not attract much traffic during normal operation. We will have 
approximately 8 deliveries of final product to customers from our site each day. A set traffic 
pattern will be made for them to avoid making left hand turns across Camelback Rd. 
entering or leaving the property. Aside from the trucks there will only be 10-20 employees 
of the plant spread over multiple shifts that will not cause any traffic congestion. Parking 
for the trucks as well as the employee-owned vehicles will be onsite inside the 6’ tall 
perimeter walls. Truck and tractor parking will be in the same lane in the production 
facility where the loading of the trucks will occur. During the day these trucks will be 
making deliveries to customers and will be parked in our truck lane overnight.  
Noise – There will be industrial equipment operating on site including pumps, 
trucks, forklifts, conveyor belt and an excavator but none will produce high levels of noise.  
Visibility – The site is surrounded by a 6 ft tall wall that is already in place shielding 
the view of most of the plant from public eyes. The tops of the office, maintenance shops 
and storage tanks may be visible over the top of the wall when looking from a distance. To 
help minimize visibility of the production area the right of way along Camelback Rd will be 
landscaped with drought tolerant vegetation that uses minimal water.  
Drainage – the land being leased by Pencco for the production plant including 
loading, offloading and storage areas will all be sloped to a common sump to collect any 
drainage from the process. This will include runoff after rainstorms to prevent any 
drainage tainted with process material from entering the city storm drains or ground 
water. This drainage collected in the sump will be used during our process so there is no 
discharge to city sewer aside from the domestic sewer inside the buildings. Pencco will 
work with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to ensure we obtain the

proper permits and work within limitations set by that agency.  As requested in the 
redlines provided after Penccos Pre App meeting the storm drain in the southwest corner 
of the property will be disconnected from the SRP irrigation system. 
 
Fire/Hazmat – Due to the nature of the production process and materials handled 
onsite Pencco will partner with a Fire and Hazmat consultant. This consultant will aid us in 
creating a plan that will strictly be followed to. 
Odors/Emissions/Air Quality – Due to the volatility of HCL, any equipment onsite 
that processes the acid and has potential to release vapors will be connected to our onsite 
scrubber. This scrubber will remove any hydrogen that gasses off and neutralizes any 
odors. The site will also have a small cooling tower which uses the evaporation of water to 
provide cooling in the manufacturing process. The water in the cooling tower will be 
adequately treated to prevent any harmful bacteriological growth that could carry over to 
the misting of the cooling tower. Lastly there will be iron ore stored onsite which is a dry 
iron particulate and will be stored in a concrete box structure protecting it from the wind. 
The ore itself is very heavy and does not tend to blow. We will also have a sprinkler system 
setup in the storage area to routinely wet the surface of the ore to prevent dusting. Pencco 
will work with the Maricopa County Air Quality department to ensure we obtain the proper 
permits and work within the limitations of those permits and maintain a safe and clean 
environment.  
 
Adam Hawkins 
Project Engineer