Industrywide Issues

MDN previously told you about the closure of the Ormet aluminum smelting plant in Hannibal (Monroe County), OH. The plant closed its doors as an active aluminum plant earlier this year after Ohio regulators and Gov. John Kasich failed to get high electric rates reduced for the plant, and refused to allow Ormet to burn coal to produce their own electricity until they could begin using natural gas to create electricity from recently drilled wells on the property (see Final Chapter of Ormet Plant Closing – Utica Could have Saved It). In all, over 900 are out of a job–thank you Ohio. But out of the ashes of that jobs disaster comes a ray of sunlight, at least for the Utica and Marcellus shale industry. Niagara Worldwide bought the plant out of bankruptcy and they are converting it into a huge transloading facility–where supplies like pipe and frac sand are delivered in bulk by barge and rail, broken down and sent back out by truck to drill sites throughout the region (see New Ormet Aluminum Plant Owner Shops Barge Facility to Shalers). It will be a huge staging site for at least three (so far unnamed) producers in the area. The re-purposed facility now has a name: Center Port Terminal. In order to get the facility ready for the shale industry, Niagara is conducting the auction to end all auctions (massive) to get rid of existing plant equipment. Here’s the details…
Read More “Out with Old Ormet Plant, In with New Center Port Transload Facility”