JOHNSTOWN — The developer of a stalled ethanol factory project has filed a counterclaim against Fage USA Dairy Industry, seeking more than $13 million.
The move Dec. 1 in state Supreme Court in Fulton County by Johnstown Renewables LLC is in response to a lawsuit filed against Johnstown Renewables by Fage on Aug. 1 — in the same court — seeking more than $20 million.
At issue is a plant that Johnstown Renewables was building next door to the Fage yogurt factory in Johnstown. The plant was expected to process acidic whey waste, a byproduct of the yogurt-making process, into ethanol and other usable substances. Fage was paying another firm to dispose of the whey, which cannot be sent in large quantities to municipal sewage treatment plants. Johnstown Renewables agreed to buy the whey waste from Fage for 0.005 cents per gallon, thereby saving Fage the cost of disposal.
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