Kansas City-based Tallgrass pipeline operator is taking a second look at its $30 million land acquisition to build a new terminal at a site about 30 miles south of New Orleans.
Purchased 3 years ago, the 600 acre site was meant to be where Tallgrass would build the Plaquemines Liquids HarbourTerminal, an operation capable of storage for 20 million barrels of crude oil and refined products to be loaded onto tankers ofr international delivery.
However, Tallgrass announced Friday it started a comprehensive reappraisal of the plans after the company learned some of the land was the site of a cemetery as well as potential artifacts.
“Integrity and respect are core Tallgrass values,” said Tallgrass CEO William R. (Bill) Moler. “As part of our PLT permitting process, our cultural survey work identified a cemetery and potential artifacts consistent with what community members shared about the history of the site. Since then, we reduced our development footprint to protect those areas, and engaged with the Ironton community and other local stakeholders on an appropriate path toward memorializing them.”
When PLT and PPHTD entered a lease agreement in 2018 to develop the site, both parties agreed to place a conservation easement on 50 acres adjacent to the historic community of Ironton. This easement remains in place and permanently protects the area from any future industrial or commercial development by Tallgrass or others.
“We will be withdrawing the current air permit application and Memorandum of Understanding with the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), as they will not reflect the new uses of the site,” Moler added. “Tallgrass will continue to work with CPRA to ensure that any future development on the site is consistent with the State’s Coastal Master Plan.
Moler said the company will evaluate a wide range of opportunities other than an oil terminal that can operate with a reduced development footprint at the site.
Source: Business Wire