BROWNSVILLE, Texas - The announcement of an oil refinery coming to the Port of Brownsville was a surprise to those that run the deep-water facility but they could not hold their enthusiasm for the mega-billion-dollar project.
Although port directors have known about the project for many years they were not expecting the big announcement that came yesterday.
On Tuesday, March 10, President Donald Trump said a $300 billion oil processing plant is going to be built by American First Refinery on land belonging to the Brownsville Navigation District.
The $300 billion refers to the estimated improvement to the U.S. trade balance the refinery would produce. The cost of developing the refinery is said to be $3.5 billion.
On Wednesday, March 11, the port director and the board of commissioners met to extol the project to representatives of the news media.
“This marks a major investment for the port and for the area,” William Dietrich, the port boss, said. “This is going to be the first oil refinery in nearly 50 years and the cleanest to be built in the world.”
Dietrich said the refinery is going to go up on the southeast side of the ship channel and will employ 500 permanent and thousands of indirect jobs. He said it has been in the works for the past 12 years.
Asked if Monday’s announcement was political in light of what is what is going today at home and abroad, he said no because a project like this takes years to make.
Steve Guerra, the board chairman, described the project as major milestone for everybody here.
“This is going to add more to what we have at the port,” he said. “We are balancing economic growth with environmental concerns.”
Guerra said a project like this will create hundreds high-paying jobs for a region of the country known for its high poverty rate.
The proposed refinery will be built on 240 acres of district land about 17 miles north of SpaceX.
Port officials said a groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for April but gave no time table for its completion. Dietrich, however, said it will take several years.
The press conference, held in a district office room set up for the media, drew the attention of others who disagreed with the project.
“We are here to oppose the oil refinery,” Melinda Melo, a volunteer with the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, said. “All these projects are destroying the environment.”
In addition to the refinery, she mentioned LNG and SpaceX, the latter of which Melo said is destroying one of the most pristine places in the country – Boca Chica Beach.
