Ohio Valley Resources Selects Site for New Fertilizer Facility: Spencer County Will Be Home to Billion-Dollar Plant

FAIRFIELD, Ill., Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ohio Valley Resources LLC  (OVR) has selected Spencer County, IN, as the home for its new billion-dollar nitrogen fertilizer plant.  The state-of-the-art facility will be located on approximately 150 acres in Spencer County north of Rockport. 

In September, OVR announced it was considering the Spencer County site along with a location near Owensboro, Kentucky.  Doug Wilson, President/CEO of Ohio Valley Resources, explained that the Spencer County site was chosen based on multiple factors.  Foremost among these is the access to two interstate natural gas pipelines afforded by the site.  The location also offers convenient rail and highway access, as well as the potential for river access.  The welcoming attitude and support offered by the State of Indiana and Spencer County representatives likewise played an important role. 

"We considered numerous sites before narrowing our search down to the Spencer County and Owensboro locations," Wilson explained.  "During the last several months, we have met with representatives of both communities and considered the potential pros and cons of our two best options.  We greatly appreciate the cooperation of both communities but feel confident we have picked the best possible location for the new plant.  We very much look forward to being part of the Spencer County community."

OVR's nitrogen fertilizer plant will be the first entirely new facility of its type to be constructed in America by a U.S.-based firm in more than a quarter-century.  It will use the latest version of KBR's Purifier Process and therefore will consume less energy than ammonia plants currently operating in the United States.  It will feature state-of-the-art emission-control technologies that comply with current federal and state environmental regulations.

"There is a rapidly growing need for this type of facility," Wilson said.  "By providing a reliable source of emissions-control products to support a cleaner environment, we will play a key role in boosting domestic agricultural production.  Best of all, we will rely on American workers using domestic sources of natural gas.  We are extremely proud that our new plant will help to stabilize the supply and price of nitrogen fertilizers to serve the Eastern Corn Belt and thereby support the regional agricultural economy."

The high-tech facility will produce approximately 2,420 tons per day of ammonia and 3,000 tons per day of urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) solution for fertilizer.  Some of the ammonia production will serve the local utility markets for NOx control (known as selective catalytic reduction units or SCRs), which reduces emissions in coal-fired power plants and industrial facilities.  In addition, the plant will produce 300 tons per day of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), a urea solution used to reduce emissions in diesel engines.

Approximately 1,200 workers will be needed to construct the plant over a three-year period.  Upon its projected completion in 2016, the facility will employ approximately 80 full-time workers.

SOURCE Ohio Valley Resources LLC