Holcim lands major permit for cement plant

Business Today

STE. GENEVIEVE -- A plan to build one of the largest cement plants in the world advanced June 7, when the Missouri DNR issued the last major permit to allow construction of Holcim's proposed $600 million cement plant.

Holcim Inc. plans to build the plant near the Mississippi River in northern Ste. Genevieve County. The company said the newly issued air pollution control permit does not mean the project can move ahead immediately, because it is involved in ongoing legal battles with environmental groups.

Environmentalists contend it would cause pollution, destroy wetlands and threaten the St. Louis region's compliance with federal clean air standards.

Supporters say the plant would boost the economy and bring jobs. The company says the project would generate about three million man-hours of work and employ about 1,000 construction workers at its peak. Once the plant is operational, it would provide about 200 full-time jobs and yield an estimated $143 million in personal income statewide.

There would be a cement manufacturing facility, on-site quarry, coal preparation plant and materials handling harbor.

Holcim spokeswoman Nancy Tully said the company has worked to plan an environmentally efficient plant.

"We anticipate successful litigation completion, and the start of this project by this time next year," she said in a statement.

The DNR said in a statement that it "has made every effort to ensure the conditions placed in the permit are protective of public health."

The permit issued is known as a Prevention Significant Deterioration air pollution permit. State law requires the DNR to issue the permit when proposed emissions and controls comply with certain legal and technical requirements, particularly the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.

Holcim, whose parent company is based in Switzerland, announced plans to construct the new cement facility in 1999.