A company executive told the Westwego City Council of a plan to increase chemical storage capacity by 12 million gallons.
Blackwater Midstream LLC's plans to expand the chemical storage capacity at its Westwego terminal are still alive. But the plan, unveiled Monday to the City Council, now calls for an expansion that's twice as large as the one presented in January, when council members enacted a nine-month moratorium on industrial expansion. They lifted the moratorium a month later.
Frank Marrocco, Blackwater's chief commercial officer, said the company now proposes to add six storage tanks, each capable of holding 50,000 barrels of non-hazardous, nonflammable chemicals. The company currently has 46 tanks of varying sizes at the 26-acre site along the Mississippi River.
Blackwater's expansion would add 12 million gallons in capacity. The new tanks would be erected in the five to six acres of land still available for development at the River Road terminal, Marrocco told council members. "This would complete our footprint at the site," Marrocco said.
In January, Marrocco made a similar presentation, albeit one that called for three new storage tanks for a total of six million gallons of new capacity. He did not directly address Monday why the scope had doubled.
However, Marrocco said industrial demand in the Mississippi River corridor from New Orleans to Baton Rouge has been "extremely strong" in recent months, since natural gas prices have fallen and factories have ramped up production. Blackwater supplies chemicals to these companies.
Councilman Glenn Green said he invited Marrocco to present the plans for the benefit of three incoming council members: Norman Fonseca, Johnny Nobles Jr., and GaryToups, who were elected in recent months and were in the audience Monday night. The new councilmen will take office July 1.
Marrocco appeared to be ambushed in January, when his presentation was greeted with the nine-month moratorium. On Monday, however, the only pushback came from city officials who reiterated the concerns of Westwego residents living near the plant and complaining about the banging of railroad cars.
"I think the real objection right now is how much more noise will be generated by these new tanks," Mayor Johnny Shaddinger said.
Residents also have concerns with "structural issues" at the plant, the mayor said without elaboration. He said he has notified members of Louisiana's congressional delegation and the state Public Service Commission.
"There are some people who are very, very upset right now," Shaddinger said. "They are not happy one bit about what's happening there."
Police Chief Dwayne "Poncho" Munch said the New Orleans and Gulf Coast Railway Company, which owns the tracks, plans a new rail yard near the Celotex plant. It would take rail cars away from residential areas where citizens are complaining.
Marrocco said Blackwater is not responsible for all the clatter of rail cars. He said the company does not expect more rail cars would go to the plant with an expansion, as the company would still primarily use river barges to load and offload chemicals.
"This is a team effort between us and the city," Marrocco told the council.
Blackwater, which employs fewer than 30 people at the terminal, plays a corporate citizen role in Westwego. In recent months, it bought a transport van for the city, to support senior citizens programs. On Monday night, Shaddinger said the company paid to paint the exterior of the city's food bank, which should be operating in July.