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December 15, 2009

Environmental firm approved on split 3-2 vote

By Janet Jacobs The Corsicana Daily Sun Tue Dec 15, 2009, 10:07 PM CST

Following a contentious work session, the Corsicana City Council approved a permit Tuesday that will open the door to a new employer to come to the city. Effective Environmental Inc., a company out of Balch Springs, wants to build a multi-functional center in Corsicana that would transfer recyclables, clean industrial solvents, and even create electricity from industrial trash, according to Chris Ewing, company president.

The vote on the special use permit was split three to two, with Mayor C.L. “Buster” Brown, George Walker and Tom Wilson voting in favor of the company. Council members Ruby Williams and Stephen Andrews voted against it. A permit is required if a company wants to recycle old products into new ones.

A motion by Williams to table the vote until the council had more information failed by a vote of two to three.

Speaking out against the company were Diana Rawlins and Vicky Prater, who argued that it was an environmental unknown. Speaking in favor of the company were Ronnie Willis and Lindsay King. Willis pointed out that finding a company willing to build next to a landfill was difficult.

The company chose Corsicana because of the ready workforce, available property next to the landfill and sewage plant, and the nearness of Interstate 45, which offers easy access to Dallas and Houston, Ewing said. The company wants to open at Jester Road and Texas Highway 31, just across the railroad tracks from the city-owned landfill.

The proposal includes up to six different potential businesses, the first three of which the company already does in Balch Springs. Those are:

• Transportation hub for the company’s hazardous materials shipping business.

• Transfer site for hazardous materials being shipped to other locations for disposal. It would be sorted and shipped out again within 10 days.

• Solvent cleaning, which takes dirty paint solvents and thinners and distills it into wash solvent useful for paint and chemical manufacturers.

The company also intends to go into some new lines, including:

• Fuel creation by taking industrial by-products, such as old tires, old oil filters from cars, and like materials, chipping it into tiny bits and blending it into a man-made burnable fuel which could be sold to other companies, such as the concrete kilns in Ellis County.

• Electricity generation by burning its own man-made fuel and gases from the landfill and sewer plant. The electricity created would power the plant, and any leftover could be sold to the electrical grid.

Two other possibilities are treating industrial wastewater to the point where it’s safe to put into the sewage treatment plant, and building a pilot plant to create synthetic gas from waste.

The company intends to be up and operational with the transportation hub and fuel creation businesses by mid-year 2010, Ewing told the council.

In order to move in that quickly, it intends to close on the property as quickly as possible and is going to start an environmental study of the property this week, said Doug Riley, director of engineering and environmental affairs for the company.

Currently, the company employs 58 employees, with an average salary of $44,000. The lowest-level employees make about $35,000, Ewing said. All the employees have full benefits, he said.

Mayor Brown commented that the city needs good-paying jobs.

The company will hire between 20 and 30 new employees for the first phase of operations. It could eventually expand to 100 people, Ewing said.

The capital investment will be about $8 million to $12 million initially, and could grow to more than $80 million.

Before the company can begin operating a boiler, it must first meet Texas Commission on Environmental Quality requirements and receive an air discharge permit. It will be considered a minor air pollution source.

The city added to the SUP that the company can’t burn medical waste and must comply with all state regulations, including new requirements as the state dictates.

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Recycle plant gets city OK

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