Rentech wants new trestle, second railway
Published Sunday, March 16, 2008
NATCHEZ — On Monday, the Adams County Board of Supervisors will meet with representatives from Rentech and the port of Natchez to discuss the installation of new a new railroad trestle Rentech said will be need to operate successfully in Adams County.
Rentech’s Natchez project manager Joe Regnery said a second additional railway might also be requested.
Regnery said the new trestle and railway could also benefit the Natchez Port.
Regnery said Rentech and port representatives will ask the supervisors to secure a Community Development Block Grant that would be used to fund the project.
Director of the Southwest Mississippi Planning and Development District Wirt Peterson said the CDBG usually requires some type of funding match from the local municipality, in this case Adams County.
Peterson said he would rather discuss funding specifics after first presenting them to the board.
“They normally require some type of local contribution,” he said. “But not always.”
Regnery said the existing trestle, running from the port to the IP site, will not support the amount of weight needed to sustain moving the massive equipment Rentech will need to build its plant.
Regnery said the existing trestle will need to be upgraded in order to support up 125 tons.
In addition to using the railway to bring machinery in, the railway could also be used to ship the finished product from the plant, once it’s operational.
Regnery said a second railway would also be helpful to the port since the port and Rentech would likely cause congestion for each another.
The port is currently the only user of the existing railway and trestle.