Lafarge is ready to invest “hundreds of millions of dollars” to modernize its Ravena cement plant six years after proposing renovations, according to officials.
Federal, state, and local officials and business leaders gathered on Friday, April 11, for Lafarge North America’s groundbreaking ceremony at its Ravena plant. The project will replace the more than 50-year-old equipment with “state-of-the-art” technology, which company representatives touted would make the plant one of the most advanced dry-kiln facilities nationwide. Area leaders praised Lafarge for being committed to the region and improving environmental standards.
“This is a history-making event. You build a cement plant for 50 years [of usage], so this plant will be a part of the history of this region,” Lafarge U.S. President and CEO John Stull said. “This groundbreaking of our Ravena modernization project marks a great day for Lafarge and for our employees, our customers and this community.”
In 2010, New York joined 11 other states and the federal Environmental Protection Agency in a consent decree requiring Lafarge to limit pollutant emissions from its 13 plants nationwide. The Ravena plant was supposed to meet imposed limits by the first of next year, but the company sought an extension claiming the cement industry was recovering slower than expected from the recent recession.
Lafarge was granted an extension until June 30, 2016, to compete construction. The amended settlement though strengthened emissions standards and required the company to further reduce pollution locally.
The core aspect of the modernization includes replacing the plant’s two long wet kilns with a preheater kiln and installing a wet scrubber and selective non-catalytic reduction technologies to reduce emissions. There will also be a new raw mill, fuel grinding mill and several new dust collectors.
The existing Ravena facilities will be shut down after the project is completed.
“Significant capital investments are being committed to the Ravena plant that will strengthen Lafarge’s core market position in the Northeast and enable this plant to compete successfully and meet the economy’s need for high quality cement,” Mike Kralik, plant manager, said. “My team and I are proud of the high-quality product that we make here and to be a part of this great community.
The project will keep more than 110 jobs and create hundreds of temporary construction jobs, along with generating $170 million for the local economy during construction, according to the company.
“I know this plant means a lot to the State of New York and all of you here will benefit every day from the cement we produce and the cement we will continue to produce,” Stull said.
Only four days before Lafarge held the local groundbreaking the company and Holcim, headquartered in Switzerland, announced a proposed merger. Stull said regardless of the merger the local plant renovations would precede.
“I want to assure you that this news does not change our dedication to this project and our excitement for this momentous groundbreaking experience,” he said. “We are committed to moving forward and very soon you will see a lot of things happening.”
The equipment has already been order to begin construction, he said, with the company hoping to be “pouring some concrete in the next few weeks and months.”
The new facility will cut fuel usage per ton in half, reduce solid waste 40 percent, eliminate water discharges into the Hudson River and reduce carbon dioxide emissions more than 20 percent.
State Department of Environmental Conservation Regional Director Gene Kelly noted the new plant would meet or exceed all current regulatory requirements.
Kelly said total emissions of sulfur dioxide will drop 95 percent, emissions of nitrogen dioxide will be reduced 60 percent and fine particulate matter will decrease 37 percent. He added mercury emissions would be reduced around 65 percent annually.
“The environment is well-served when companies demonstrate the leadership to invest in plant modernizations designed to make their operations more efficient and clean,” Kelly said. “Lafarge’s major investment in Ravena serves as a model for what American industry ought to be doing — investing in our future and protecting jobs all while being a good steward of our shared environment.”
Several area officials praised Lafarge for choosing to modernize and reduce environmental impacts at the local plant.
“The facility being replaced has been a fixture in Ravena and Albany County for many years,” Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, said, “and I am happy to see Lafarge choose to continue their operations for another generation and welcome this new facility and its workforce to our area.”
Albany County Executive Dan McCoy said the company has worked with community leaders and neighbors to address concerns. McCoy said it was “a long three years” to reach the groundbreaking.
“Fifty-years ago, the very site that we’re sitting on today was considered the most advanced cement production facility in the entire world,” state Thruway Authority Executive Director Thomas Madison, Jr., said. “The fact that this plant is being modernized and rededicated by today’s world leader in cement … is very exciting news.”