WEST TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – Since 2016, the industrial plant located at West Sanford Avenue in West Terre Haute has not been in operation.
Soon, that may no longer be the case after the company Wabash Valley Resources bought the property with intentions to re-purpose it.
“We have been developing a project to change the existing facility which created a hydrogen rich gas that used to be combusted for power generation, instead we’re going to use that in a more economical way to produce ammonia,” said Daniel Williams, VP of engineering for Wabash Valley Resources.
Williams says in most cases producing ammonia has negative effects on the environment.
“One of the by-products of making ammonia is that we would release a tremendous amount of CO2 into the atmosphere,” Williams said.
To prevent CO2 from being released into the atmosphere, Senate Bill 442 was created to capture this carbon dioxide and store it 8,000 to 10,000 feet underground. It’s a project that is the first of its kind in the state of Indiana. Lawmakers who supported the bill say this is a safer alternative.
“The EPA and other groups will come in and do their due diligence and they’re not going to let a project go through that wouldn’t be safe. So there’s some hurdles to cross but at the end of the day this will be a safe project,” Senator Jon Ford said.
Lawmakers along with management at Wabash Valley Resources say this project will have major positive effects for the Wabash Valley’s economy, including many jobs for both plant and construction workers.
“Our plans are to create 110 to 125 full time jobs. Those jobs will probably be some of the best paying jobs in the Wabash Valley. We’re targeting at least $75,000 annual salary,” Williams said.
“It should bring in 600 to 700 hundred jobs for a couple of years, two years, hundreds of thousands of hours,” said Mike Jones, Central Wabash Valley Building and Construction Trades Council.
Williams says the ammonia his company produces will help Indiana farmers because it’s a resource they use as fertilizer. He says it will offset costs of having it shipped in from other areas.
This project is pending EPA approval, but Williams says he hopes to start construction in the next 12 months with a two to three year construction period.
Wabash Valley Resources says they are looking to hire people with engineering and technical experience.
Senator Jon Ford authored this bill, Representative Alan Morrison was a sponsor.
