LEONARD GRAY / L’Observateur / October 18, 1999

LAPLACE – International Matex Tank Terminals received approval for a revenue bond sale from the South Louisiana Port Commission, which paves the way for a $21 million expansion of its facility in St. Rose.G. Dale Gibson of IMTT said the project includes new welded steel storagetanks, new piping and pump stations, new truck loading racks, new rail spurs, new vapor recovery systems and an upgrade to its existing dock for two new barge berths.

Most of the federal, state and parish permits are in hand, Gibson said, and construction should be complete by mid-summer 2000.

IMTT is a methanol-handling facility, located on River Road on the site of the former Cities Service plant. The new construction will add nine tanksfor one million barrels of storage.

The vapor recovery system, Gibson continued, is designed to condense the vapor into liquid form, where it can be distilled for additional product and trucked off the site.

“It’s environmentally friendly, and it’s the wave of the future,” Gibson commented.

The project will result in 25-40 construction jobs, but he couldn’t say the number expected of new permanent jobs at IMTT.

In other activity, the port commission agreed to give Delta Beverage in Reserve 18 months’ notice that the port will close down its wastewater treatment ponds.

Those treatment ponds have been the target of complaints by neighbors, many of whom filed suit against the port over noxious fumes sweeping the area.

In other activity, the port commission agreed to hire Greg Young and Associates of Thibodaux and H. Thomas Parsons of The Humaneering Co. ofBaton Rouge to conduct an executive search for a new executive director of the port.

Commissioner Brent Tregre said plans are to have a new director hired by the end of the year.

Commissioner Louis Joseph, however, was upset at not being properly notified of a meeting at which the firms made presentations to the search committee. “I think that’s unacceptable!” Joseph said.The firms will develop the characteristics the new director should have and develop advertising to attract such a candidate, drawing from the southeast United States region.

The commission voted 5-1 to hire the firms, with Joseph voting against, and E.J. Martin absent.

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