Big River Steel’s plan to build a mill in Mississippi County took another step toward construction Thursday with Administrative Law Judge Charles Moulton’s affirmation of an air permit issued by the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.
Nucor Corp., which owns two steel mills in Mississippi County, filed a complaint with the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission in October, claiming Big River’s air permit, approved last year, did not meet state and federal law requirements.
Moulton’s ruling to allow the permit will be presented for consideration by the entire commission March 28.
Meanwhile, construction of the $1.1 billion steel mill near Osceola is still on hold, John Correnti, chief executive officer of Big River Steel, said Thursday. Company executives said in September that they expected construction to begin by the end of 2013.
“We can’t start construction until we know we’ve got a rock-solid air permit,” said Correnti, who had not heard about the decision Thursday. “It would be like you buying a house and not knowing you have clear title to it.”
Construction can’t start before June in any case, Correnti said. The plant won’t get final approval from its foreign lenders until then, he said.
Once the firm has a “rock-solid” permit from the state, its foreign lenders will be able to finish their due diligence on the project, Correnti said. In August, Correnti said one of the Big RiverSteel lenders is the German Export Bank.
The final decision on that loan will be made on June 5, Correnti said.
“Then they have to apply for [insurance on the loan],” he said.
Other than various site studies, no work has begun, said Clif Chitwood, Mississippi County’s economic development director.
Big River Steel, however, “is lining up everything we can to begin construction,” said Martin Booher, an attorney who represents Big River. “Before getting shovels in the ground, you have to issue contracts, get relevant construction permits and things like that. We’re ready to go.”
If construction begins in June, the plant would be completed in about 22 months, Correnti said. That would be in about April 2016.
The plant is expected to employ 550 workers each with an average salary - including potential bonuses - of $75,000 a year. About 2,000 workers would be hired to build the plant.
“We feel like the decision from Judge Moulton demonstrates that despite the best efforts and misrepresentations by Nucor in the press and in other arenas, [the Department of Environmental Quality] complied with all applicable laws and regulations when it issued the permit to Big River Steel,” Booher said.
David Taggart of Shreveport, the lead attorney for Nucor, did not return a phone call seeking comment on the decision. But Taggart said during the four-day hearing last month that the decision would be appealed if Moulton ruled in favor of Big River Steel.
An appeal wouldn’t delay Big River Steel’s construction plans, said Correnti, a former chief executive officer with Nucor.
“If the commission rules [in support of Moulton’s decision], we feel we’re on solid ground,” Correnti said. “Not only would I feel we’re on solid ground, but also our lenders and all our equity partners would. Nucor can do what Nucor wants to do. They can keep up this legal gymnastics, if you will, until the cows come home.”
In its case, Nucor had the burden of proving that issuance of the air-quality permit to Big River Steel was improper. Moulton sided with Big River Steel on every issue, including calling a main Nucor argument unfounded that Big River should have used an air monitor in Marion instead of one in Dyersburg, Tenn. Big River chose the Dyersburg monitor to represent the air quality near its plant, since Osceola doesn’t have a monitor. Dyersburg is about 40 miles northeast of Osceola. Marion is about 37 miles southwest of Osceola.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 03/21/2014