Scott City officials, others oppose plan for railroad-tie treatment plant

A plan to open a railroad-tie treatment plant in Scott City has sparked opposition from current and former city officials and even a local developer who believe it would pose an environmental and health risk and come with a bad smell.

But officials are uncertain whether they can stop the project legally. The city council has scheduled a special meeting at 7 p.m. today at city hall to discuss the issue.

Scott City Mayor Norman Brant said North American Tie & Timber LLC recently notified city officials about its intent to build the plant on a vacant field along the south side of Main Street near the railroad tracks.

Brant said officials and residents of the small Scott County town are concerned because the plant would treat the wood with creosote, a known carcinogen.

Creosote is a dark brown oil distilled from coal tar and used as a wood preservative.

The mayor said the plant would be near homes and city ballfields, and would be "detrimental to the city."

A question of risks

Brant, who lives a few blocks from the proposed site, worried the plant could pollute the air and stormwater runoff and pose a significant health risk to residents.

He said the proposed plant also poses a fire danger. The city, he said, doesn't have enough water to contain a fire at such a facility.

"We might have to evacuate part of the town," he added.

"I am going to do everything I can do to stop it," the mayor said.

The company has not applied for a building permit, something it would have to do before construction could begin, Brant said.

Brant said the site is zoned light industrial. The mayor said he believes the site would have to be rezoned as heavy industrial for the project to proceed.

Opponents said the plant could employ about 30 people, but such employment does not outweigh the environmental and health risks.

The plant would need to obtain a stormwater permit from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, said Arthur Goodin, chief of the water pollution unit in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

The state agency also would review any plans for discharge of hazardous waste, he said.

As of Friday, the company had not submitted any application to the DNR, Goodin said.

In the works

The plant would treat more than 1 million railroad ties annually and store them for up to a year to cure, they said.

North American Tie & Timber operates a nearby tie yard in Scott City from which railroad ties are shipped elsewhere for a creosote treatment, plant opponents said.

Alvin Bates, one of the owners of the Oklahoma City-based firm, spoke about the project at a city council meeting Sept. 11, according to a written summary of the meeting posted on the city's website.

Bates said he began speaking to city officials three or four years ago about the proposed plant, the summary said.

But Brant and former mayors Ron Cummins and Tim Porch said the company never entered into any detailed discussions about the project.

Brant said the issue surfaced about three weeks ago when he was contacted by Bates.

According to Brant, Bates conveyed the impression at the council meeting "that everything is a go."

But Brant said the city has no written agreement with the company about the project.

City officials said North American Tie & Timber has purchased the acreage on which the proposed plant would be built adjacent to Mid-South Wire or leased it from the Union Pacific Railroad.

The Southeast Missourian left messages on Bates' office phone and cellphone Friday. None of the calls had been returned.

Project talk

Cummins said he attended a meeting with Bates, Porch, city administrator Ron Eskew and Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce president John Mehner in 2016 at which the project was discussed.

Cummins said he told Bates at that time the community did not want such a plant.

Mehner said he attended the meeting as a representative of Magnet, the area's industrial-recruitment organization.

The proposed plant has been on Magnet's "active" list of projects since June 2015, he said.

Mehner said the meeting he attended occurred Aug. 17, 2016, at city hall in Scott City. He said Bates detailed plans for the project.

But there has been little discussion since that meeting, Mehner said.

Porch remembered the meeting lasting only 10 to 15 minutes.

Porch said Bates was asked to come to a council meeting to discuss the project, but never did so while he was mayor.

"We did not approve anything," he said. "I am not for it. I didn't approve it."

'Do not need this'

Local developer Monty Keesee recently urged the council to block the project. Keesee said he was provided with engineering plans for the project when the company thought he might bid to do the excavation work at the site.

"They are ready to go," he said.

But Keesee said he won't bid on the job because he opposes the project.

The plant, which would be close to a day-care center, would have a "horrendous" smell, he said.

Keesee and Cummins said North American Tie & Timber has pointed out Hope, Arkansas, has a railroad-tie plant. But Keesee and Cummins said that plant is four miles outside the city.

"We do not need this in the middle of our town," Keesee said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

215 Chester Ave., Scott City, Mo.