The Elevance solution, part 2: New industry to have significant impact on port
Published 12:02am Sunday, June 12, 2011NATCHEZ — Adams County Port Director Anthony Hauer preferred not to tether himself to numbers when describing what the new biochemical plant Elevance Renewable Sciences will mean for business at the port, but he said with certainty the impact would be “tremendously substantial.”
In negotiations between the company and the state, however, the parties detailed the predicted impact of the company on the port in numbers of barges, rail cars and dollars.
Natchez Inc. Executive Director Chandler Russ said traffic at the port should increase significantly with 95 percent of the company’s raw material coming in and much of its product shipping out on the river.
Barge traffic should increase by 520 barges a year in phase one of the Elevance project and 740 in phase two.
Recent statistics reflect the port currently services approximately 270 barges a year, Hauer said.
Since an average-sized barge carries 1,500 tons, 3 million pounds, or 60 18-wheelers worth of cargo, that means traffic will increase in phase one by 780,000 tons, or 193 percent.
After phase two, which is slated for completion within five years, the amount of cargo coming through the port on barges is projected to have increased over the current volume by 1.11 million tons, or 274 percent.
If the proposed impact of Elevance’s project prove correct, by the end of phase two, the port could be moving and extra 1.52 million tons, or 3.04 trillion pounds, of cargo by barge a year.
Rail traffic is expected to increase by 3,800 rail cars after phase one and 7,600 rail cars in phase two, Russ said.
The current volume on the entire 66-mile stretch of rail linking Natchez to Brookhaven is approximately 2,600 rail cars a year from a combination of companies including Bude’s American Railcar Industries and Natchez’s Mississippi River Pulp.
Since an average rail car carries 100 tons — or 200,000 pounds — of cargo, after the second phase is completed, the railroad should be trafficking up to approximately 10,200 cars, or 1.02 million tons of cargo total — a 292-percent increase in rail car traffic.
Gov. Haley Barbour and Elevance CEO K’Lynne Johnson announced last week in Natchez the company plans to break ground in the fourth quarter of this year to convert and expand the former Delta BioFuels facility near the port into a biorefinery to produce specialty chemicals.
As part of the deal, the port, the port-owned railway and roadways will receive major upgrades.
In total, the port will receive $6.5 million, funded by the state, county and the port’s budget, in infrastructure improvements in phase one of the project.
Major capital improvements to the port will include improvements to the existing liquid loading dock and the addition of a vapor recovery system.
Vapor recovery systems trap any emissions that might build up in liquid loading pipelines that could possibly escape, Hauer said.
The port is budgeted to pay $1.5 million in phase one, an amount the port expects to fund through the increase in revenue from services it will provide to Elevance.
In the second phase, Elevance has pledged to invest $7 million mostly to be spent on a second liquid loading dock and vapor recovery system at the port.
In addition the county had fortunately already bid on a project to improve Government Fleet Road, which was something Elevance wanted, Russ said.
Hauer said while business is expected to spike, he plans to keep the number of port employees steady at eight marine transport employees and one secretary — for now.
“Here, what we do is offer a service for a fee. Human resources depends on how much (the service is used),” he said.
The port might need to hire more personnel for specific operations relating to Elevance in the future, Hauer said, but that demand will be addressed as it arises.
Hauer said while the port does not always look busy, it has had a consistent stream of revenue.
Within the next five years, however, Hauer said passers-by might notice a change.
“(The port) will have the appearance of a busy bee, and the impact is a bit inconceivable,” he said.
Hauer said he agrees with Russ and Adams County Board of Supervisors President Darryl Grennell and others that the slated improvements to the port will make it one of the most — if not the most — state-of-the-art ports on the Mississippi River.
And what he is most pleased about, he said, is that the plans still leave room for the port to grow beyond the scope of the new project.
The plan established among the state, local government, port and Elevance, he said, has the foresight to keep future growth in mind.
“I’m elated … that (Elevance) has decided to come to Natchez,” Hauer said. “If you’ve heard the stories and sermons — ‘Finally, it landed.’”
