NATCHEZ &045; Whether Tessenderlo Davison Chemicals opens up a facility in Adams County will depend on whether rail service continues &045; and what shipping rates will be.

Canadian National, parent company of Illinois Central, is still evaluating whether to close two of its rail lines as a result of the announced closing of International Paper’s Natchez mill, said company spokesman Jack Burke.

The mill accounts for about half of the freight shipped on the company’s Brookhaven-to-Natchez line and Memphis-to-Canton line.

Canadian National sent letters last month to its other major shippers in Natchez-Adams telling them the railroad was reviewing its options.

&uot;What they (Canadian National) are telling us is that they have a market study going on and that they think they’ll have it done by the end of April,&uot; said Steve Nathanson, vice president and general manager of Tessenderlo Davison.

Burke said Monday he is not sure when the decision will be made.

Early last month, Tessenderlo announced that it had started the due diligence process &045; reviewing the former Ethyl Petroleum building to see whether it meets the company’s needs.

If it does &045; and if affordable rail service continues to the site &045; company officials have said they will store sodium hydrosulfide, sodium hydroxide and sulfidic sodium hydroxide, and may also mix the chemicals, at the facility.

The due diligence process includes making sure legal work, such as title searches, is complete; doing an engineering assessment of the plant, its fixture and equipment; and taking samples from the facility’s environmental monitoring wells.

The only step still left is to take samples of the monitoring wells, Nathanson said.