With the loud rumble of a 500-foot-long cement kiln in the background, Holcim US Inc. celebrated a new milestone at its longtime Hagerstown plant Monday, one that ensures the local facility's vitality into the future.
Holcim officials and employees were joined by numerous elected leaders for a ground-breaking ceremony, officially kicking off a two-year, $95 million modernization project that will cut down on the plant's environmental footprint and create hundreds of construction jobs in the process.
"We're very excited today," Hagerstown plant manager Fernando Valencia said after the event at the facility off Security Road. "This is an important project for the company."
In addition to creating between 200 and 300 construction jobs during peak construction, Valencia said the plant modernization will decrease nitrogen oxide emissions by an estimated 60 percent and sulfur dioxide emissions by about 48 percent.
The project includes shortening the plant's existing rotating kiln, installing a state-of-the-art heat transfer tower over the top of the remaining kiln and installing an energy-efficient product cooler to replace the existing cooler, Holcim spokeswoman Robin DeCarlo said when the project was in the planning stages last fall.
Renderings of what the project would look like once completed were on display, with many Holcim employees on hand to discuss the project with numerous local and state elected officials on hand.
Speakers during Monday's gathering included U.S. Rep. John Delaney, Holcim executive Filberto Ruiz, Swiss ambassador to the United States Manuel Sager, Washington County Commissioner Terry L. Baker and Howard County Executive Ken Ulman.
Ruiz said cement is the second-most used commodity in the world, second only to water, and Holcim provides about 13 million tons of cement annually in 44 different states.
The company's continued investment will help the company continue to meet demands in the United States, where infrastructure reinvestment has become a national priority, Ruiz said.
"The cement industry is crucial to rebuilding our infrastructure and Holcim is committed" to providing that product locally, he said.
Delaney, D-Md., has been a vocal proponent of making a big investment in U.S. infrastructure, as evidenced by his bipartisan bill that could fund $750 billion worth of projects if passed into law.
"This is a significant commitment to this region," Delaney told those in attendance, highlighting having locally made materials for large infrastructure jobs a huge bonus for the region and the country.
Baker touted the company's willingness for continued investment in the county as a great thing for the nearly 100 employees who work at the plant.
"This is a really, really fantastic event for our community," Baker said after the ground-breaking ceremony. "It's going to provide opportunity for many generations to come."
The project comes after Holcim was hit with federal Clean Air Act violations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year.
Holcim — and the plant's former owner, St. Lawrence Cement Co. LLC — agreed to a settlement with the EPA and planned to invest $20 million or more to upgrade the Hagerstown plant to significantly reduce nitrogen and sulfur-dioxide emissions.
The settlement, reached in July 2013, required Holcim to reduce sulfur-dioxide emissions by 230 tons per year and nitrogen oxides by 92 tons per year by Sept. 9, 2016, according to an EPA news release previously announcing the settlement.
That would limit the sulfur-dioxide emissions to 655 tons per year and 1.8 pounds of nitrogen oxides per ton of "cement clinker" produced, the release said. Clinkers are lumps of limestone and clay produced in the kiln and later processed into cement.
If corrective actions were not taken, the EPA said the plant would be forced to shut down.
Valencia said the company's investment was not spurred specifically due to the EPA sanctions, but the modernization project provided "the most comprehensive solution" to the issue.
"This project is being done because it's the right thing to do," he said.
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