558 N. Main St., Prineville, OR 97754 | (541) 447-6205
Envirotech Services, Inc., is in the process of digging a well at the freight depot to provide water for its magnesium chloride mixing facility.
With the county still buzzing after Facebook's big announcement last month, a new industrial company has been in negotiations with city officials to lease property at the Prineville Freight Depot.
Envirotech Services, Inc. of Greely, Colo., plans to break ground on a magnesium chloride mixing facility, possibly this month. It would be the first large company to lease ground at the freight depot.
Liquid magnesium chloride is commonly used as a de-icing and dust-control agent on roads and highways as an alternative to rock salt.
According to its Web site, Envirotech Services, Inc. offers a wide range of products and services, including de-icing agents, dust-control and soil-stabilizing products, sensor and spray systems and other specialty products.
"They have other facilities similar to what they're proposing for Prineville throughout the western states," said City Manager Steve Forrester.
The city council will meet Tuesday to finalize the deal, Forrester said. It includes a 20-year lease agreement on seven acres of city property with minimum rent payments of $3,000 per month, along with railroad track usage and water supply agreements.
"It's a positive investment into Prineville," Forrester added. "It creates some jobs, it's our first major tenant at the freight depot taking advantage of our Connect Oregon investment there, and it's a great opportunity for the railroad to pick up a significant amount of rail freight."
The project will provide a few good-paying jobs, but Forrester is unsure how many. Envirotech Services did not respond to inquiries about the facility.
"It won't be 40 or 50, it might be five or six to start with, but with opportunity to grow," Forrester said.
In addition, it will provide a much-needed boost in rail traffic on the struggling City of Prineville Railway. Railway Manager Dan Lovelady was hesitant to provide details since the facility is not a done deal yet, but he expects an increase in carloads, possibly up to 90 per year. Through what is known as a handling line agreement, larger railroads pay freight charges to the railway for every car that it handles. The City of Prineville Railway charges around $500 per car, Lovelady said.
"It would mean a significant number of carloads for the railroad," he said. "They'll build up to that. If they double their production, then the carloads will go up more."
The structure itself is essentially a mixing facility and doesn't employ any hazardous chemicals, according to Forrester. It will also be virtually silent and will not release any sort of smoke or pollutants into the air.
"It's basically salt water," he said, of the product that will be produced.
However, it will require diverting a potion of an irrigation canal on the property via a 960-foot underground pipe. The pipe will be purchased by Envirotech Services.
"It's so that (irrigation) ditch isn't running through the middle of the property," Forrester explained. "If they spill some salt, you wouldn't want that getting in the ditch."
The facility will also use a fairly large amount of water. During the first year, it will require approximately 1.6 million gallons, which equates to four gallons per hour. By the second year, the company expects to need approximately twice that much due to expansion.
The city is currently digging a well on the property to serve this need and anticipates digging another in the future. The wells will be city-owned and Envirotech Services will pay the city industrial water rates for the water they consume, Forrester says.
With the advent of this new project, Forrester says he is seeing more interest in Prineville from companies looking to expand.
"We're finding ways to attract new businesses to look at all the attributes of Prineville," he said. "We have a rail connection to the mainline, we have good value in land, good infrastructure, and a city and county government that are good to work with. People are starting to pay attention to that."
