After several years of agency review and public comment, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has approved the final major regulatory permit — for air pollution control — to allow construction of the proposed Holcim (US) Inc. Ste. Genevieve cement plant. The permit acquisition is the latest step in an extraordinarily comprehensive environmental review process that has involved eight federal and state regulatory agencies.

The measures required by the state in the project's air permit will require that Holcim use the best available technology to control and reduce air emissions. Also, as a condition of the permit, the company has agreed to use an additional, innovative technology to further reduce emissions.

The Ste. Genevieve project includes a total of about 3,900 acres along the Mississippi River, north of Ste. Genevieve. Approximately 2,200 acres surrounding the plant and quarry will be managed for wildlife and will not be disturbed. No more than roughly 200 acres will be actively quarried at any one time. Throughout the life of the quarry, Holcim will continue to restore land that has been impacted.

The Ste. Genevieve plant will meet and exceed established standards that protect human health and safety, and those that protect air quality in the immediate region and beyond. A 2001 study commissioned by the U.S. EPA demonstrated that the project will not negatively impact the St. Louis region's ability to meet existing federal ozone standards. Even with that finding, Holcim is committed to more emission reductions — effectively cutting certain ozone-related emissions from the plant by about 50% during the months when St. Louis' ozone problems typically occur.

The air pollution control permit is the latest in an extraordinarily comprehensive environmental review process involving eight federal and state regulatory agencies. Those agencies have already issued permits for every major aspect of the project including the quarrying of limestone, restoration of previously quarried land, control of stormwater runoff, construction and operation of a nearby harbor, and the creation or enhancement of more than 60 acres of wetlands.

At the peak of the construction phase, the $600 million project will employ about 1,000 workers. When the plant begins operations, it will have about 200 full-time employees, with an estimated annual payroll of $10 million.

Despite the acquisition of all major permits for the project, the pace of construction is likely to be tempered until litigation filed by opponents of the Holcim plant is resolved. The litigation was filed to block the use of two other previously approved and issued environmental permits for the project.