Omega Refining Corp. plans to try again, after reaching out to neighbors
At the request of Councilman Jon Johnson, the New Orleans City Council has rejected, at least temporarily, a proposal to build a $40 million plant in eastern New Orleans to recycle used motor oil. At the council's April 5 meeting, Johnson, who represents eastern New Orleans, had the application deferred. That essentially killed it, because the council had an April 7 deadline to act on it.
New Orleans City Councilman Jon Johnson"We don't take it lightly when someone is talking about" a $40 million investment, Johnson said. He indicated, however, that the applicant, Omega Refining Corp., had failed to win over eastern New Orleans residents suspicious about the plant's possible effects on their neighborhoods.
Johnson said he expects the proposal "will be brought back at a future date so we can have more discussion with the community and the owners."
Omega CEO Dexter Hawk agreed, saying, "We need to regroup a little bit and come up with a good presentation for the communities involved."
This was not the first time that a proposed recycling plant in eastern New Orleans was rejected by the community and the council.
In 2008, TransLoad America Inc. twice failed to win approval for plans to build two multimillion-dollar solid waste sorting and recycling facilities. The plants, one next to the Industrial Canal and the other next to the Michoud Canal, would have extracted recyclable materials that otherwise would go into landfills.
However, in early 2011, at Johnson's behest, the council approved plans for a rock crushing, concrete and steel storage facility and a scrap metal collection and transfer center on Old Gentilly Road.
In the case before the council this month, Omega proposed building an oil recycling plant on a 12.6-acre site next to the Michoud Canal in an area zoned for heavy industrial uses. The nearest homes are about 1.5 miles away.
The operation would have involved re-refining recycled motor oil using a hydrotreater and thermal soil system. Through re-refining, used oil can be turned into products such as motor oils, transmission fluids, hydraulic oils and industrial lubricants as well as asphalt paving materials.
The plant would have processed oil recovered at the applicant's Marrero separation facility and barged to the Michoud site.
On Feb. 29, the New Orleans City Planning Commission divided 3-3 on a proposal to authorize the plant.
At an earlier public hearing, two leaders of eastern New Orleans residents said they had not been contacted about the project and did not know enough about it to take a position. Omega officials said at the time they were working with Johnson's office on contacting neighborhood groups.
Bruce Eggler can be reached at beggler@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3320.