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Holcim-Lafarge deal firming back up

A reader in Claverack forwarded the news that (as predicted here last week) the rough patch in the proposed Lafarge/Holcim merger has proved to be more of a speed bump than a roadblock. Holcim’s posturing has indeed led to Lafarge making some concessions and the merger is said to be moving forward again. More at this link.

TCI granted six months to get out of Ghent

In an interim settlement of a specious lawsuit brought by TCI of NY, the Town of Ghent has agreed to give PCB (mis-) handler six months to find a new town to bedevil.

According to an attendee of yesterday’s hearing before judge Jonathan Nichols, TCI and Ghent have signed a “tolling agreement” which suspends the lawsuit. TCI had claimed in court filings that the Town’s attorney had a conflict of interest, and had asked Nichols to prevent Ghent from enforcing its Zoning code.

Assuming TCI finds a new home in one of three other towns they have approached, including Coeymans, the company will void its application to rebuild in Ghent, and the Town will hold TCI harmless for its actions. (Good riddance to bad rubbish?) The Albany Times-Union has previously reported that the company also has scoped out sites in Saratoga, Washington and Rensselaer counties.

The company also will pay $12,500 to cover Ghent’s expenses thus far related to the now-aborted reviews. If TCI has not found a new home by the start of 2014, it could in theory reinstate its legal objections, and resume its quixotic pursuit of fresh permits from Ghent, and would presumably have to contribute an additional retainer for that review. More likely, one suspects, is that the two parties would extend the tolling agreement for another 3-6 months to give TCI more time to skip town.

The most eyebrow-raising part of the agreement is an unusual clause demanded by TCI, which compels Ghent officials to “refrain” from any “involvement” or “interference” with the company’s efforts to find an alternate site in another place

This leaves a strong appearance that TCI is afraid that Town officials might be contacted by other municipalities to which the company has applied for asylum, and that the neighboring officials might hear details of their time in Ghent.

Considering that Ghent now seems eager to have this thorn in their side removed, it’s hard to imagine that it would do so. If anything, the clause seems as likely as anything to backfire. Just imagine someone from, say, the Coeymans Planning Board (which has already called TCI on the carpet) phones a Ghent official seeking advice. But Coeymans is told by Ghent told that it is under a gag order not to talk about TCI’s operations. Wouldn’t that set off as many alarm bells with the person calling as anything the official might tell them?

In any case, with TCI’s two 2012 fires extensively covered in the T-U, New York Times, YouTube, and various local news outlets, any potential new host doing even cursory research would probably stumble upon reports of the company’s past troubles. Wherever TCI lands, they are likely to face far more scrutiny and oversight than they have had to endure over the past three decades in Columbia County.

TCI to Coeymans, at least temporarily

Image: Bing Maps

The Albany Times-Union is reporting that TCI of NY, whose PCB-processing facility in Ghent was incinerated in a calamitous fire last August, has “set up temporary shop at the Port of Coeymans.”

Billing itself as “environmentally friendly” (mainly on the basis that barges are less polluting than trucks), the 12-year-old port is roughly 10 miles south of Albany, and directly across the Hudson River from Schodack Landing. As the aerial photograph shows, the Port is also near the Thruway, and located not far from some densely-populated neighborhoods. And it’s barely a half-mile from the Lafarge cement plant in Ravena.

The company told the T-U that they are operating “on a temporary basis in Coeymans while we continue to evaluate our long-term opportunities. A permanent facility in the Port of Coeymans is among the opportunities we are considering, and we have submitted a site plan to the Coeymans Planning Board for its review.” They refused, however, to explain how their operation would compare to their now-scorched Ghent business.

The article lists other sites still on the company’s radar in counties including Saratoga, Washington and Rensselaer (including East Greenbush , Rensselaer and Schodack), and states that returning to Ghent is still a possibility.

Prior to the Ghent fire, accidents at TCI included a worker’s onsite death from freon exposure; a failed incenerator proposal; a transformer explosion at their temporary home in Greenport; and another major fire at their Newburgh plant. At one point between their stints in Newburgh and Greenport, the company tried to move to Athens, but opposition from firefighters and residents squelched that plan.

The Coeymans Planning Board meets next on July 1st at 7 pm at 18 Russell Avenue, according to the Town’s website.