Thermaldyne to move forward with $50 million, 75-job Port of Greater Baton Rouge facility

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Thermaldyne to move forward with $50 million, 75-job West Baton Rouge reclamation plant

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Thermaldyne, the environmental services firm that announced a $19 million industrial waste reclamation plant in Port Allen three years ago, says the facility will finally open later this year after spending $50 million on the project.

The company, which was formed in 2015 to build the plant, had previously announced the project in 2015 at the tail end of former Gov. Bobby Jindal's tenure, saying the facility would be complete by 2016. Thermaldyne CEO Randall Tolbert said the initial announcement came in the infancy of the project.

"It really hasn't been delayed as much as the (announcement) was way too early," Tolbert said, adding the facility is not a hazardous waste site.

The facility is now about 90 percent complete, he said, and could eventually serve all of the state's refineries. He estimates it will save refiners $100 million annually by providing an option other than shipping waste to other states for disposal.

If the company gets approval from state environmental regulators, the facility will bring 75 new jobs to the Port Allen site, at 2325 North Line Road, with an average salary of $80,000 a year. Thermaldyne and the Baton Rouge Area Chamber announced Monday the development is moving forward.

Since the initial announcement, Tolbert said he's met with in-state oil giants like Shell and ExxonMobil to fine-tune plans. In doing so, the firm increased the scope, spending $50 million on the project, largely on its infrastructure.

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Opponents of the project have sounded off in the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's public comment period, raising several concerns, including that the site is a hazardous waste incinerator, which Tolbert insists it is not.

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Technically, this is a hazardous waste incinerator that could potentially contribute to air, land, and water pollution. It is still an important piece of infrastructure for all of the major refineries in the region though.

It's made possible by the significant investment into freight rail lines, a terminal upgrade, and a rail transfer station that's been built in the Port of Greater Baton Rouge since 2015.