GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland Industrial Development Agency at its Jan. 25 meeting approved a $240,000 sales-tax waiver for Airgas USA’s liquid argon gas storage and distribution facility in the Northeastern Industrial Park. 

The project, which includes the renovation of an existing 172,000-square-foot building as well as the construction of ten 15,000-gallon storage tanks, each at a height of nearly 47 feet, was approved by the zoning board of appeals in October.

The estimated project cost is approximately $3.9 million of which $3.45 million is anticipated to be machinery and equipment costs, according to Airgas. The new facility is to be completed by July 31, 2022.

In exchange for the $240,000 sales-tax waiver Airgas says its new facility will create eight new jobs with two positions to be relocated. The jobs will have average annual salaries of $90,000. Airgas also estimates the project will create 35 construction jobs with aggregate wages of $420,000. 

Airgas is a major producer of gases used in manufacturing, food production, and health care. 

Argon and nitrogen, which is also proposed to be stored on-site, are inert gases, meaning they are not combustible. Argon is currently trucked into the northeastern United States, where there is a shortage of the gas, the town’s planning board was told in September. 

Argon is used mainly in welding, but also in electronics manufacturing. 

The argon would be distilled and liquified and shipped by rail to Guilderland, where the Airgas facility would be serviced by the existing rail line that runs through the industrial park. Many of the rail cars would be coming from the Gulf Coast — Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi — where there are large air-separation plants.