By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

CONVENT – State Environmental officials announced Thursday that they have granted Nucor Corp. a modified air quality permit for a planned iron producing facility in Convent, according to a release from St. James Parish.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has granted the permit, which covers two production facilities Nucor has on the horizon. The North Carolina-based company has said it will first build a $750 million direct reduced iron facility, and then expand from there. The project has been touted as one of the state’s largest capital construction projects.

“We are very excited that we will be able to begin moving forward with the construction of this facility,” said Nucor chief executive Dan DiMicco in a statement.

Nucor Officials have yet to set a timetable for when construction on the first phase would begin. DiMicco had said previously that the project would likely take 24 months from the time the permits are issued to get off the ground.

After an intensive study that surveyed several sites across the U.S. and Brazil, Nucor announced in September that it had selected Louisiana for placement of the new facility. The company recently spent more than $50 million to buy 4,000 acres of land along the Mississippi River in Convent for the production facility.

The direct reduced iron facility is part one of a five phase initiative that could become a more than $3.4 billion venture for the state. The first phase would add 150 permanent jobs in addition to 500 construction jobs to the region.

By the end of the five-phase plan, which includes an additional reduced iron facility, a pellet plant, a blast furnace and coke oven, and an eventual steel mill, the complex would bring 1,250 direct jobs and another 4,800 indirect jobs to the local economy.

In a statement released Thursday, St. James Parish President Dale Hymel expressed gratitude to all involved in bringing the project to the region.

“For two years the parish has worked diligently with the state and with Nucor to make sure the agreement carried out according to plan,” Hymel said. “As parish president one of my goals has always been to drive more business and new development into St. James to increase growth and create more jobs for residents. This will open the doors to invite other manufacturers and retailers looking to become part of our vast growing community.”

In addition to state incentives totaling about $65 million, Nucor plans to use more than $600 million in Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds to finance the first phase of the project. The GO Zone bond program was put in place through an act of congress to help stimulate economic growth in areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.