USA: Dixon cement plant could reopen

A cement plant that has been idle since December 2008 has approached the city about reopening.

About 90 employees lost their jobs when St. Marys operations ceased. A few workers remained to oversee the plant’s use as a distribution terminal.

Dixon Mayor Jim Burke said representatives from St. Marys approached him about five months ago about the possibility of restarting manufacturing operations. The talks were in very early stages, so he was surprised to see the company’s classified ad in Sauk Valley Media publications looking for more than 65 workers, he said.

“We’re optimistic, and it would be a great thing to have the plant up and running again,” Burke said. “But honestly, I saw the ad and thought they might be jumping the gun.”

The plant is old and not nearly as efficient as many others owned by the company. St. Marys is part of Votorantim Cimentos, based in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Restarting operations would require a large capital investment, and the company is looking for help.

“We’re working with them to see if there are incentives to make it all work,” Burke said. “We would like to get Sen. Dick Durbin involved as we look at state options.”

The company had attributed the closing to a deteriorating economy and rising energy costs, but the Environmental Protection Agency also played a role.

The EPA fined St. Marys Cement and co-owner St. Barbara Cement $800,000 for violations of the federal Clean Air Act. In addition, the settlement called for the companies to spend nearly $2 million to upgrade pollution control on three of its four kilns. The fourth kiln had to be replaced or shut down.

The settlement was the first completed as a result of an EPA crackdown on Portland cement manufacturing facilities. EPA said the companies illegally modified the kilns at the Dixon plant in a manner that increased harmful sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions. In addition to failing to install the proper pollution-control equipment, the companies were cited for failing to get the proper permit before making the modifications.

When the company bought the Dixon plant from Cemex in 2005, it assumed liability for the kilns that were not operating up to EPA standards. St. Marys had said it was a coincidence the EPA settlement and the announcement to suspend operations occurred on the same day.

St. Marys had left the door open to resume operations in Dixon, saying the decision would be based on product demand rather than the cost of EPA compliance.