Construction to start on massive cement plant

BLOOMSDALE, Mo. -- Despite concerns from environmentalists, construction is slated to begin next week on one of the country's largest cement plants, a $600 million facility that will employ 200 workers and manufacture 4 million tons of concrete a year when completed in 2009.

Switzerland-based Holcim Ltd. held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday in a tent set up on the future site of the plant, which is to be built in Ste. Genevieve County along the Mississippi River off U.S. 61.

"We expect to be here a long time," said plant manager Jeff Ouhl. "We expect to be a good corporate citizen for a long time."

Some of the dignitaries, including U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson and Acting Gov. Peter Kinder, spoke of frustration brought on by legal challenges from environmental groups concerned about pollution. Those challenges delayed the project for years.

"There were times when I thought it wasn't going to happen," Emerson said. "I would have thrown my hands up in the air and said, 'I'm not going to do this anymore.' But we got through it."

Construction is expected to take three years and employ more than 1,000 people, a major boon to Ste. Genevieve County. Local officials praised the project for bringing employment and investment to the county.

The plant will have a $10 million payroll and provide $23 million to school district in property taxes. The Ste. Genevieve County plant is the second Holcim plant in the state, with the other one in Pike County.

Kinder, the state's acting governor while Gov. Matt Blunt is overseas, said that he knew growing up in Cape Girardeau that having a cement plant was a sign of vitality. "So we knew, through it all, that we could do this in an environmentally sound manner," Kinder said. "A lot of folks would have quit. But Holcim and this community showed perseverance."

Some environmentalists remain concerned, saying the plant will add tons of smog at a time when the St. Louis region already exceeds federal standards. Ted Heisel, executive director of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, said his group and others dropped their four-year fight against the project after the Missouri Department of Natural Resources granted an air pollution permit to Holcim in November.

In addition to air pollution concerns, the Missouri Coalition for the Environment and other groups worried about damage from mining and damage to wetlands. Holcim settled legal challenges to the project by paying $3 million for habitat restoration and education programs. Heisel said the money is sitting in an escrow account as environmental groups find conservation projects to fund near the new plant site.

Company president and CEO Patrick Dolberg thanked the community for its support through the trying times. "It was that support through the difficulty of getting the permits that kept us determined," he said.

Dolberg said the environment was a concern for the company as well. More than 2,000 acres of the 3,900-acre project -- which is rich with high-quality limestone, the key ingredient in cement -- will remain as a conservation buffer area.

Holcim will also have its own harbor on the river to receive and ship more than 80 percent of the plant's materials and products. This is beneficial, Dolberg said, because water transportation is one of the most energy, environmentally and economically efficient means of transport. The plant will also meet one of the lowest emission limits to date for any cement plant in the United States, according to Holcim.

"We believe that this project will be an example and set new standards," he said.

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137