2011: TOP 10 STORIES

 

Protesters rally in July against plans for a sulfur melting facility at the N.C. Port of Morehead City. (Dylan Ray photo)

NEWS-TIMES
Published: Sunday, January 1, 2012 2:05 AM EST

One of the most controversial stories of 2011 was PCS Phosphate Co.’s plan to construct a facility to offload, store and melt solid formed sulfur at the state port here.

The project, more than a year in the works, was kept mostly secret until Coastal Area Management Act notifications sent to adjacent properties owners became public in early July. Within days, a grassroots effort was organized and, following Gov. Bev Perdue’s intervention around the end of July, the plan was scuttled.

Gov. Perdue, during a visit to the N.C. Port of Morehead City, signed an executive order mandating that all future port development plans be studied to ensure compatibility with the surrounding community. The order broadened the scope of a state study of maritime industry logistics that had begun in May.

That study is scheduled to be completed in February. Until then all port development plans are effectively on hold. But PCS is still considering its options for meetings its sulfur needs.

The secrecy of the project was maintained ostensibly to qualify it for a state Commerce Department incentive grant program called the One North Carolina Fund. That program mandates “no public discussion” of qualifying projects until an official announcement is made by the state. But many opponents and others not opposed to the plan said the secrecy was mainly to head off potential controversy seen in past port development proposals while the environmental permitting process was under way.

PCS, which operates a phosphate mine in Aurora, is the port’s largest customer, accounting for nearly 1 million tons per year or 86 percent of the Morehead City port’s total tonnage in 2010.

PCS has handled liquid sulfur at the port for decades without incident. But the global market for liquid sulfur has changed and because it is needed for the Aurora mine’s processing operations, the company seeks a new way to supply the material.

A solid sulfur handling facility is still being considered for the Morehead City port, but the Clean County Coalition, the group formed to fight the melting facility, has said it opposes any handling of solid sulfur at the port.

Meanwhile, port officials and members of the Morehead City Port Committee, a nonprofit group of individuals interested in port business, have reached out in an effort to soften the opposition. The group hosted a tour of port facilities during the fall for members of the Morehead City Planning Board, which is in the midst of a review and rewrite of port and industrial uses allowed in the city’s zoning ordinance.

And the state’s maritime strategy study has indicated that port development prospects for Morehead City and Radio Island could include new facilities for containerized cargo operations or a grain and soybean facility. But such facilities are also being studied for other State Ports Authority properties in New Hanover and Brunswick counties.

From Website:  http://www.carolinacoastonline.com/articles/2012/01/01/news-times/news/doc4eff4490c707f663754085.txt

PDF file:  2012-01-01 Carteret County News Times 2011 Top 10 Stories