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Youngstown council examines Exterran history
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"THERE’S ALWAYS A DANGER, BUT IT’S NO DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER MANUFACTURER.” -- T.J. Rodgers, Youngstown councilman
YOUNGSTOWN
Safety is always an issue with industrial plants, but city officials aren’t more concerned about Exterran Energy Solutions’ proposed $13.2 million natural-gas compression manufacturing facility than normal.
In May 2007, a worker at a Texas plant, engineered and designed by Exterran, then known as Hanover Compression, died after an explosion at the facility.
A jury awarded $82.5 million in damages to his family in June 2010 after finding Hanover was grossly negligent for the death, according to an article in the Star-Telegram of Fort Worth, Texas.
Members of Youngstown City Council and the city administration said Wednesday there is a big difference between that natural-gas processing facility in Texas and the proposed fabricating operation here.
“It’s not the same thing,” said T. Sharon Woodberry, the city’s economic development director. “It isn’t something I feel is a concern for [the Youngstown] site. It’s a completely different activity. This is restricted to making equipment needed for gas compression.”
But “we need to look into oversight and make sure we don’t have any [safety] issues,” said Councilwoman Annie Gillam, D-1st.
Councilman T.J. Rodgers, D-2nd, said, “It’s a good project for the city. There’s always a danger, but it’s no different than any other manufacturer.”
“It’s a danger walking across the street,” added Councilman Nate Pinkard, D-3rd. “This is just a fabricating plant. There will be no compression here.”
When asked about the 2007 explosion and 2010 court decision, Susan Moore, Exterran’s spokeswoman, said the company’s safety record is solid.
She pointed to U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics for the first 11 months of this year showing the number of injuries and illnesses of Exterran workers is lower than the industry average and five times less than the average manufacturing company in the nation.
Mayor Charles Sammarone said, “You hate to see anyone killed in an accident. We worked with the [Youngstown/Warren Regional] Chamber and the state on an economic package for this company. I don’t believe the state and chamber would get involved with a bad company.”
Council approved legislation authorizing the city’s board of control to give a 20-acre site on Salt Springs Road and a tax abatement to Exterran for a $13.2 million project.
The board of control is expected today to approve giving the company the land and the tax abatement.
The abatement calls for Exterran to pay $590,000 and save $1.79 million in real-property taxes over 10 years.
The company is still working with the state on a financial-incentive package.
Exterran plans to hire 103 employees between July 2012 and July 2015.
The company wants to open a facility in Youngstown “to serve customers in the Marcellus and Utica” shales, according to its tax-abatement application.
The company provides a variety of above-ground services for the gas and oil industry including processing, compression, water treatment, equipment, products and services.
If the project moves ahead, Exterran would move to the former LaFarge North America Inc. site in the city’s Salt Springs Road Business Park.
The city received more than $4 million from the state to purchase the property, used by LaFarge to mine slag, and to make improvements to it such as building a road and installing utilities.