Posted on 04/07/2017 6:15:23 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A Chinese chemical company says it has begun building a $1.85 billion plant in St. James Parish, about 15 miles north of Thibodaux, that promises to create hundreds of jobs.
Yuhuang Chemical began construction on the methanol plant in January and expects to complete the complex, along the Mississippi River, in late 2019, the company said in a news release Thursday.
“The first phase of the project is a $1.5 billion methanol manufacturing complex,” the company said. “Two more phases are set to follow, leading to the employment of 100 permanent workers. The plant is also expected to create around 1,000 construction jobs across the area.”
State and company officials, including then-Gov. Bobby Jindal, announced the plans in 2014. At the time, officials said Yuhuang Chemical will create 400 new direct jobs with an average annual salary of $85,000, plus benefits, within six years of the plant’s startup.
The site is next to the Plains All-American Pipeline terminal, along the River Road in the community of St. James on the river’s west bank. It’s about 15 miles north of downtown Thibodaux and 30 miles north of downtown Houma, though road miles to the site are greater than the straight-line distance.
Yuhuang Chemical, a subsidiary of Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Co. Ltd., plans to convert methane to methanol, a form of alcohol that is commonly used to create other, more complex chemicals.
Most of the project’s methanol will be exported by oceangoing vessels for use in the parent company’s production of more refined chemicals in China. About 20 percent to 30 percent of the methanol is to be shipped by barge and rail and sold to North American customers.
“Management expects a large portion to be distributed locally with the balance exported primarily to Europe and China,” the news release says.
Yuhuang has purchased 1,300 acres for the plant, along with St. James High School, for $10.1 million. The 46-acre school campus, located along River Road on the west bank of the Mississippi River, is directly in front of the tract where the plant is being built. Parish school officials have said they will put the money toward a new high school that will be built on 54 acres off LA. 3127 in Vacherie.
Hundreds of jobs created by fracking. Methanol is made from methane (i.e., natural gas). Thanks to fracking, the U.S. is now the go-to source for methane — and China is taking advantage.
If Obama had an ounce of political brains, he would have taken credit for the fracking boom, but his eye was on “climate change”.
Fortunately, we now have a president who appreciates what we have.
NO WORKERS FROM CHINA!!!!!
Maryland just outlawed fracking. New York effectively has as well.
Fools. Party of “science”.
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