Your weekly construction news & updates
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The Ohio Valley Construction Employers Council, Inc. is dedicated to the advancement of the construction industry and the protection of its members and the general public.
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OEPA Issues Permits for Belmont County Cracker Plant
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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has issued the $5.7 billion ethane cracker project in Belmont County a permit to discharge wastewater into the Ohio River.
PTT Global Chemicals, based in Thailand, is contemplating building a giant ethane cracker at Dilles Bottom in Belmont County. The project would create thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs.
The Ohio EPA issued three permits – two discharge permits and a 401 Water Quality Certificate — after holding public meetings in September. The two discharge permits cover wastewater and storm water dumped into Lockwood Run and then the Ohio River.
A 401 Certificate is a required provision in an application with the Army Corps of Engineers, which would allow the discharge of dredged fill material into streams and wetlands during the construction phase of the project.
“We held two hearings on the permits, and the response was positive from the community,” said Dan Williamson, spokesman for PTT Global’s American subsidiary, PTTGC America. “The EPA determined that the safeguards are in place.”
The EPA said that permitted discharges might result in changes in current water quality, but cannot violate Ohio standards for water quality. In this particular case, the EPA incorporated changes into the permits that include strengthened the monitoring requirements and a more detailed analysis of wastewater intake.
According to documents filed with the EPA, many residents spoke in favor of the plant, many calling it “transformative” for this region of Ohio. Others were concerned about toxins that would be discharged into the water and emissions from the plant into the air.
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Feb. 16 Job fair scheduled to fill thousands of positions
From the West Virginia Press Association
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginians can start looking for both orange barrels and jobs in February, according to the West Virginia Department of Transportation.
Tom Smith, secretary of the WVDOT and commissioner of the Division of Highways, said the first wave of highway work from the “West Virginia Roads to Prosperity” plan will start across West Virginia as soon as the weather allows.
WVDOT Secretary Tom Smith, left, talks with West Virginia Press Association Executive Director Don Smith on the state newspaper industry’s new 30-minute video program, “West Virginia Press InSight.”
Perhaps more importantly, hiring for the work will definitely start in February.
Smith said Governor Jim Justice’s plan was always more than just a roads program. “It’s all about transportation, he said, but added, “It’s about much more than transportation. It’s about economic recover.”
“This is about thousands and thousands of jobs … We want West Virginians to jump in here. The Governor always said we want to hire West Virginians first,” Smith said.
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Marshall County Commissioner’s Road Measure Will Get Another Opportunity
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WHEELING — A bill that would allow counties to undertake major road construction projects — such as the expansion of Interstate 68 into Marshall County — is back in the West Virginia Legislature.
Senate Bill 295 would allow authorizing the assessment and collection of fees by counties to offset costs they incur associated with the development of properties.
In short, the measure would permit Marshall County commissioners to use tax dollars they expect to collect in the future from oil and natural gas operations in the county to fund major infrastructure development — such as the expansion of I-68 from Monongalia County to Marshall County.
It would also allow counties to partner with boards of education on these types of projects.
Marshall County Commissioner Bob Miller has been championing similar legislation in Charleston since 2015. The past two years, the measures have passed the Senate, but failed to get a full vote in the House as delegates worked to the last minutes of the session on budgetary matters.
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Ohio County BOE Moves Closer to $42.2M Bond
WHEELING — Ohio County Board of Education members Friday moved closer to putting a $42.2 million bond issue before county voters this spring.
The board brought together bond counsel, financial experts and contractors for a work session Friday to discuss the school district’s initiative to make major upgrades to all 13 school buildings in the district.
The total cost of the overall projects comes to an estimated $75.5 million, according to Joseph Nassif, managing director at the Piper-Jaffray investment firm. He said Ohio County Schools may be eligible to receive about $27 million of the money needed through the West Virginia School Building Authority, and he suggested a bond issue of $42.2 million should go before voters.
The $27 million from the SBA wouldn’t come to Ohio County Schools as one lump sum, said Ernie Dellatorre, president of project contractors McKinley and Associates. Instead, it would be allocated over a two- or three-year period.
School officials have said they expect energy savings due to the upgrades will defray project costs beyond what the school district would collect from the bond issue and school building authority.
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Redevelopment key to W.Va. communities
Redevelopment, revitalization, reuse, reinvestment, resources, rehabilitation — all opportunities and necessities for community economic development in West Virginia. Whether a historic building in a downtown, a mall, a former mine site, industrial site or other institutional uses, a huge part of our economic success will depend on new uses, new ideas, new investment, new and improved businesses and new partners at the community level throughout the state.
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Wheeling Suspension Bridge Work Is Unlikely Before 2019
WHEELING — As it is more than 160 years old, the Wheeling Suspension Bridge often requires care that more recent spans do not, while the West Virginia Division of Culture and History must agree to any major renovation of the National Historic Landmark.
Meanwhile, West Virginia Division of Highways District 6 Engineer Gus Suwaid said his department continues seeking options for the Aetnaville Bridge which connects the north end of Wheeling Island to Ohio. This span closed to vehicular traffic 30 years ago, but remained open for pedestrian and bicyclists until early 2016.
Nearly two years ago, Suwaid presented a proposed $9 million rehabilitation project for the Suspension Bridge, which connects 10th Street in downtown to Virginia Street on Wheeling Island. This happened shortly after the bridge had to be closed a couple of times because of damage sustained when overweight buses crossed it.
However, Suwaid said Thursday during the Wheeling Heritage Preservation Forum that he does not expect any significant work on the historic span until at least 2019. He said any work will also have to receive approval of the State Historic Preservation Office, which is part of the Division of Culture and History.
“Rehabbing a historic legacy bridge is so complicated. Any kind of improvement my be approved by the SHPO,”
he said.
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West Virginia Legislature:
Attached is a list of bills that have been introduced this week in the WV Legislature that have an impact on the construction industry or some of the OVCEC members.
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Ohio Valley Construction Employers Council
Ginny Favede, Executive Director
21 Armory Drive Wheeling West Virginia 26003
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