After a nearly three-year review, a major modernization of the Lafarge cement plant in Ravena is in line to get the green light from state and federal environmental watchdogs, paving the way for a fall start of construction.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation on Friday, July 8, officially accepted the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) on the modernization project, kicking off a 10-day waiting period before the issuance of air and water permits. It’s expected the permits will be issued during the week of July 18, leaving only a building permit with the Town of Coeymans to be secured.
We’re pleased with the process of the project. The DEC has been doing great job holding us to the level of detail necessary, said Lafarge Environmental Manager John Reagan. `We’re looking forward to finishing the process.`
The modernization project is expected to cost $400 million and create 800 temporary construction jobs. The cornerstone of the upgrade is a replacement of the plant’s wet kiln with a dry one, which should be much more efficient than the aging facilities now in place.
The size of the project, along with Lafarge’s industrial operations and emissions, meant the environmental review was an extensive one, resulting in a document hundreds of pages long. Gene Kelly, Region 4 director for the DEC, said the agency is pleased with the robustness of the process, and also that so many positive comments were collected from the public.
`We got hundreds of comments, written comments that were submitted. The overwhelming majority of those comments were very supportive,` he said.
The DEC also held a formal legislative hearing in Ravena in January, when the sentiments coming from residents and advocacy groups alike followed along those same lines. The Lafarge plant has often come under fire for being one of the largest emitters of mercury in the state.
Part of the reason everyone was so excited about the modernization, said Kelly, is that it will not only be an economic boon but will greatly reduce many of the plant’s emissions, including mercury (a 66 percent reduction), sulfur dioxide (a 95 percent reduction), oxides of nitrogen, or smog (a 60 percent reduction) and fine particulate matter (a 37 percent reduction).
`What we’re going to have is a plant that can produce a lot more cement, and its emissions are going to be a lot more friendly to the environment,` Kelly said.
He added that since the plant will be moving from a wet to a dry-fired kiln, Lafarge won’t have to draw water from the Hudson.
Reagan said that if all goes well, the new plant could be up and running by late 2014, which would be right on schedule. Though the factory will have to be shut down for a certain period of the construction, it will continue to produce cement for most of the modernization process.“
$400M modernization on track for a fall start