South Whitehall commissioners have granted unanimous approval to Nestle Purina’s plans for expansion.

“Thank you for bringing 30 new jobs into the township,” said South Whitehall Commissioner Glenn Block to Nestle Purina Petcare representatives after hearing plans for expansion of the facility at the board’s Aug. 3 meeting.

The company, once known as Alpo, proposes a 53,000-square-foot addition to the northeast warehouse; an 80 space, 32,000-square-foot paved employee parking lot; and a 32-space trailer parking lot southwest of the existing warehouse.

Several access drives will be installed and two stormwater detention basins will be added.

A new well, north of the proposed warehouse, will be drilled as the plant uses on-site wells for its water supply.

The pet food plant has an on-site wastewater treatment operation for both industrial and sanitary sewage.

No sewage is discharged to a municipal system.

Nestle anticipates hiring 30 additional employees, 10 new ones for each shift, due to the expansion project.

Presently, the company has 178 workers on first shift and 130 on both the second and third shifts.

Nestle anticipates an additional 10 trucks per day entering and leaving the plant, a 5-percent increase due to the enlarged facility.

The Nestle tract is bordered by Huckleberry Road to the north, the Pennsyvania Turnpike to the west, Church Road to the east and Pope Road to the south.

Amit Mukherjee of Base Engineering Inc. expressed appreciation to township officials for working very well with Nestle representatives on the proposed development plans.