Orange County Judge John Gothia said Chevron Phillips is doing improvements at the site for a proposed new $8 billion chemical plant even though the corporate go-ahead has not been made.
And in the other big construction project in the works for the county, the coastal levee-seawall protection system “still has a long, long way to go,” he said.
Gothia talked Monday with KOGT’s Gary Stelly on the ‘People in the Know’ segment of The Morning Show.
The acreage along Highway 87 South that Chevron Phillips bought has had “a ton of action.” You can actually see the old Schulman plant from the airport with the trees being cleared.
“They are doing a lot of work out there,” Gothia replied. He said company representatives tell him it’s “land improvements.” If corporate executives approve the investment for the construction, the site will be ready for construction.
He said the changes at the site include moving pipelines, an old railroad track, and utilities. Also a drainage canal will need to be moved. The company has been working with the Orange County Drainage District and Director Don Corona to assure the plant will not create flooding.
The construction is estimated at $8 billion, he said. The site improvements could cost $100 million. “It’s a lot of money to us, but not a lot of money to them,” he said.
“All things are looking good (for the project), but never know until you know,” he said.
Federal money has been approved for the construction of a levee-seawall system around southern Orange County as part of the Texas Coastal Protection System. The system is eventually go from Orange southward along the state’s Gulf of Mexico coast.
Gothia said the state legislature is working to form a special Coastal Protection System District to oversee the maintenance and operations of the system once it is completed. Orange County Commissioners Court is working to assure each county with part of the system will have a representative on the district’s board.
He said each county’s commissioners court will appoint a local person to be on the board.
Voters will decide whether the district can tax to support the system.
Gothia said Orange County has had a storm surge from Hurricane Ike, but local officials want to assure the protection system does not create more flooding during a “rain event.” (The plans include six pump stations.)
Corona with the drainage district is working with the US Army Corps of Engineers on the design. The Corps is overseeing the design and construction of the protection system.
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