EFFORTS to save a closurethreatened Teesside chemical plant are being stepped up with a feasibility study planned to help determine its future use.

Since the Dow plant, in Wilton, announced its closure earlier in the year, “continued and determined” efforts have been made behind the scenes to safeguard its future as the UK’s only producer of the Ethylene Oxide (EO) chemical.

The Northern Echo revealed last month how the Government has pledged to step in to help in negotiations if a buyer for the site was found.

Now, it has been revealed that a feasibility study is to be carried out at the Dow plant, to determine factors including how much it would cost for a company to take on its running and its future viability.

It is understood that from there, providing the outcome is positive, potential owners would be able to submit bids.

A source close to the study hailed it as a piece of really good news and a definite step forward, and it may throw a lifeline to other plants and jobs threatened by the EO plant’s impending closure, which is due to take effect in January.

The study is being organised by the North-East Process Industry Cluster (Nepic) and regional development agency One North East – both have been committed to saving the plant since the closure announcement in July.

The Dow plant is a key site in Wilton and the Teesside process cluster, Croda, was forced to announce its closure as a direct result of Dow’s demise. It plays a significant role in the sector nationally.

Its closure was said to have the potential to cost 500 direct and 2,000 indirect jobs across the country, as well as the positions of the 60 people employed at the site.

More than 1,000 jobs have already been lost in the supply chain as a result of the situation in the industry, which has seen the recent closures of Invista and Elementis, closure announcements from Dow and Croda, and questions persisting over the future of Artenius – mothballed until a buyer is found – and the Petroplus North Tees Refinery, which is up for sale.

However, the sector, which contributes £10bn to the regional economy and employs 34,000 people, insists it has a bright future after the temporary blip, with 44 investments for a total of £6bn being pursued for the North-East by 2015-18.