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NATCHEZ — A meeting between the Adams County Board of Supervisors, the county’s port commission, its director and representatives of BASF turned contentious Thursday morning.

The meeting was called after Board President Kevin Wilson received a letter from BASF executive Eugene Mezheritsky, who is in charge of Americas Asset Optimization and Supply Chain Management for BASF.

In the letter, Mezheritsky asked Wilson to share the letter with all members of the board, which Wilson did last week. Mezheritsky wrote operations at the port have “reached unacceptable levels of performance with regards to handling the customer shipments and integrity of the silos that are critical to maintaining business continuity of our site. Mistakes are being made in executing basic warehouse operations such as ensuring containers are properly loaded with the right product in the specific quantities, proper handling of goods, accurate inventory tracking, etc.”

Mezheritsky wrote his company is working to find alternatives to operating at the Adams County Port, but because of its long-standing relationship with the port, it was hoping improvements would be made before a decision to pull out was made.

“Either the change has to come from your side in a drastic improvement or it will come from us in the form of dissolving our relationship,” he wrote.

Wilson said the letter was not the first time BASF officials have complained about port operations. Among the BASF complaints is one in which the shipment of products were mixed up and each sent to the wrong customer in the wrong countries. BASF spent more than $70,000 to create new products quickly and have it flown to the correct customers.

Andrell Hardy, who is in charge of supply chain management at the company’s facility in Vidalia, Louisiana, detailed a number of shortcomings at the port at the port, including missed shipments, not enough materials to make shipment, damaged goods, not updating or properly tracking inventory in the warehouse, as well as a myriad of safety issues at the port and in the warehouse.

“We ship 15 million metric tons a year used for chemicals around the world. The challenge we have been chasing is customer complaints. Some improvement has been made, but we have a long way to go to make sure our customers are taken care of,” Hardy said.

BASF is the port’s largest customer and makes up half of the revenue brought in by the port annually, Wilson said.

BASF pays the port approximately $650,000 on average each year, said Blythe Bellows Lamonica, senior communications and public relations manager.

Right now, a piece of equipment BASF depends on at the port is in need of a part, which is having to be manufactured. The BASF officials have complained that communication about that piece of equipment is an issue. They have not been told when they can expect the equipment to be back in use.

Anthony Hauer, port director, said it will be six to eight weeks before the part needed for the repair will be complete, and it will need to be installed after that.

“I have provided all the information I know about it,” he said.

District 4 Supervisor Ricky Gray said he thought the meeting was “illegal.” He admonished the BASF employees for not following “protocol” in making their complaint about operations at the port.

“I don’t know if BASF understands protocol. Protocol is to contact commissioners that we appoint. Protocol is not to contact this board,” Gray said.

Earlier in the meeting, some of the port commissioners said they were not aware of the complaints from BASF.

Lamonica said complaints about operations at the port go back to 2023.

“We have a list of 13 official complaints. It’s not so much a one-off. It is a habitual issue of missteps. I’m glad that commissioners are now aware of it. We just need some assurance these will be addressed. We appreciate what you said about going to the port commissioners. Now that everyone is aware, we hope we can come with actions on some of these issues,” Lamonica said.

District 5 Supervisor Warren Gaines said, “Now that everyone is at the table and port commissioners are aware of the issues, I do think we can get this issue resolved. I think that at the end of the day, everyone here wants this relationship to work.

District 1 Supervisor Wes Middleton said, as a former small business owner, he understands the issues facing BASF.

“I know the value of the customer, and I know that a business cannot survive without its customers and I know that a business owner — in this respect of the port commission — it’s their duty to do whatever it takes at the end of the day to take care of their customers. Mr. Hauer is hired by the port commission. It is his job to report to the port commission, so if there has been a chain of emails, a chain of conversations, the way I feel is that every one of those communications should have been forwarded to the commission so they are not left in the dark,” Middleton said. “It’s sad that it has come to the point that this letter had to be sent. It did not get sent after one, two or three occurrences. It was obviously numerous occurrences that got us to this point. And I am only one supervisor, but I am here to do whatever it takes to continue this relationship because I value BASF and what it brings to our community.”

District 3 Supervisor Angela Hutchins thanked BASF for its business at the port, but also asked that it direct complaints to the port commission.

“Thank you all for your service and we would like to continue your service and keep you here because you all are an asset to this community, but from here on out, if there is any problems, I would like to see you all work with the commissioners, their attorney and port director to make sure they get all the information you need. We appoint these commissioners and we don’t want to micromanage them. It’s what they are there for,” she said.

Michael Wen, chairman of the port commission, extended an invitation to the BASF officials present to attend its meetings.

“I would like to issue you an invitation. We meet monthly. You are welcome. There is no doubt in my mind that we can get this resolved. The port has a history of success and has many happy clients and you have been a valued customer for many years, so you have an open invitation,” Wen said.

Gray said he has heard good things about BASF and said they are a community asset.

“On the other side, I like to follow the rules. I am a rules person. As a supervisor, every conference I go to, every meeting I attend, they tell us what we can and cannot do. One thing we can’t do is run day to day operations. I didn’t want to be here … As a supervisor, I think it is illegal for us to even be here. What we do is appoint commissioners, approve the budget and we approve the director’s salary. Anything other than that is illegal for us to even be doing. That’s just my opinion,” Gray said.

Wilson asked Grayson Lewis, the port commission’s attorney, if he thought the meeting was illegal.

“No. The statute provides that supervisors yourselves could be part of the port commission. When (the port commission was) created, I wish there were some minutes that gave a little more direction about the supervisors’ role, if any. Supervisors can be non-voting members if they choose,” Lewis said.

“We have researched that in the past,” said county attorney Scott Slover. “The (attorney general’s) opinion says to do that would be a conflict of interest. It creates separation of power issues.”

Slover answered Wilson’s question about the legality of the meeting, saying as owners of the port, supervisors can be informed and bring parties together, but it cannot do things such as providing a better shipping rate to companies like BASF and cannot direct the port commission.