VIDALIA — Despite an Australian company’s failed efforts to locate a graphite processing facility in Port Manchac, Louisiana, local officials say they have done their homework and have no concerns about a similar facility the same company plans to locate in Vidalia.

Syrah Resources announced Monday that it has selected a Vidalia site for a $25 million facility that will create 25 new direct jobs, and up to 30 indirect jobs for the area.

The Melbourne, Australia, company had already spent two years searching for a site in Louisiana. The company had previously selected Port Manchac as the site for its plant.

A group of environmentalists, local fishermen and residents convinced Port Manchac leaders to back away from an agreement to lease a facility to Syrah, after expressing concerns about air emissions and water discharge from the proposed plant. Many of the concerns focused on the effects the plant would have on the area’s popular fishing and recreation opportunities in Port Manchac and neighboring Lake Maurepas and Lake Ponchartrain.

After failing to secure the lease, Syrah looked for other sites for its facility and finally settled on Concordia Parish.

Vidalia Mayor Buz Craft said the town and local economic development leaders have done due diligence and feel confident the project poses no harm to the town and surrounding areas. Craft said local officials looked at all of the data provided by the company and feel convinced the new facility is well within limits for both air emissions and water discharge as set by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

“There was a whole lot of homework done on this,” Craft said.

Reports that the company will not have to meet the requirements set by LDEQ and the EPA are “completely false,” Craft said.

Syrah Resources Chief Operating Officer Paul Jahn said the company understands what is necessary and fully intends to comply with the standards set by LDEQ.

Jahn said to operate a facility in Louisiana the state looks at two essential requirements — air emissions and wastewater discharge. As to air emissions, Jahn said the company does not plan to apply for an air emission permit for the initial phase of the facility because the air emissions will be too low to require one.

“There is a threshold level above which you need to apply for a permit (in the State of Louisiana),” Jahn said. “In our first phase, our operation will not generate a level of emissions that will require it.”

Later phases of the project will likely reach the threshold for air emissions and be required to apply for a permit. Depending on how rapidly client demand increases, Syrah may have to seek a permit at the end of 2018 or the beginning of 2019, Jahn said.

“We could expect it to be a requirement in the next one to two years,” Jahn said. “Before we reach that level we will apply for a permit and feel quite confident that (LDEQ) will grant it.”

The confidence, Jahn said, is because a previous project that was planned for St. John the Baptist Parish had already received an air emissions permit from LDEQ for a facility that would have been built at a larger scale than the one planned in Vidalia. The project in Reserve, Louisiana, was later scrapped because the parish could not provide the water necessary for the plant.

The original air permit for the Reserve project listed numerous levels of pollutants that would be emitted from the facility, including graphite particulates, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, hydrochloric acid and hydrofluoric acid. All of the pollutants were at sufficient levels to receive a permit from LDEQ, Jahn said.

Unlike the proposed facility in Manchac, where the company intended to discharge its waste into a local waterway, Syrah plans to use the Town of Vidalia’s existing wastewater facility.

“We could seek a permit (to discharge the wastewater in the Mississippi River), but the city has indicated that it is something they could handle,” Jahn said.

Because the company plans to use the town’s wastewater, Syrah will not have to apply for a water emissions permit with LDEQ, Jahn said.

Craft said the town has looked at the data provided by the company and has determined that the wastewater from the facility can be processed adequately with the town’s existing facilities.

“We had them run lab tests on the discharge to determine if it would harm or upset permit requirement the town has with LDEQ,” Craft said.

The company plans to discharge approximately 41,000 gallons of wastewater daily.

Natchez Inc. Executive Director Chandler Russ said that amount of water sounds like a lot but is small comparatively. Russ said the International Paper mill in Natchez discharged 30 million gallons of wastewater into the river each day before it closed in 2003. Presently, the City of Natchez releases between 2 and 3 million gallons of wastewater and the Town of Vidalia discharges up to 1.5 million gallons each day, Russ said.

“Forty-one thousand gallons sounds like a lot of water, but it isn’t,” Russ said. “(Syrah Resources) is not a large user.”

Craft said tests show the discharge levels could increase threefold before it would become a concern for the town’s wastewater system.

LDEQ officials said they could not speak to Syrah Resources’ current plans for the Vidalia facility because they haven’t seen any applications for the project. Longley said even though Syrah has submitted a permit application for a previous project, LDEQ cannot assume anything about the company’s future projects.

“At this point, it is the very beginning of the process,” LDEQ Public Information Officer Greg Longley said. “Until we see a proposal, we can’t comment on it.”

Jahn said the company will not apply for a permit in the initial phase of the facility, but will likely apply for future phases. 

Despite assurances from local officials and from Syrah Resources, local farmer Pam Clayton said she is not convinced.

“I am not against the company as much as I am concerned about the environment,” Clayton said. “We are farmers, and I want to make sure everything is disclosed about what impact this will have.”

Admittedly, Clayton said she is skeptical of what comes from local officials and LDEQ and many things that come from government.

“I didn’t drink the Kool-Aid. I guess I am not so submissive.”

Clayton said the fact that other communities have rejected the graphite processing plant causes her to be concerned.

“That raises huge red flags for me,” Clayton said. “I know everyone is for economic development, but at what cost?”

Clayton said she would like to hear about the concerns of those in Port Manchac and from environmental scientist Wilma Subra, who assisted with the Save Manchac Coalition. Clayton has invited Subra to come talk to her and other concerned citizens about the project.

“We are farmers. We work the land. Right now, we need to know what is going on, what it is all about and what it entails,” Clayton said.