Weston’s involvement with the greenfield construction of the largest methanol plant in the United States began with project siting for Natgasoline’s gas-to-gasoline project, as it was originally called. Over time, the project shifted from gasoline production to the production of methanol; Natgasoline was acquired by OCI N.V.and other investors. Weston provided comprehensive environmental and permitting support to the project stakeholders in all project stages from the initial vision through construction.
Our team prepared all required permit applications for project construction and obtained one of the first greenhouse gas prevention of significant deterioration permits issued in Texas (September 2014). Extensive coordination with the stakeholders was conducted throughout the permitting process to address a wide variety of issues from limiting nitrogen oxide to less than 100 tons per year to addressing significant wetland restraints and issues.
Weston provided local regulatory expertise to overseas design engineers and stakeholders to ensure the design of the facility could be aligned with regulatory requirements and construction permits could be obtained. Our input drove critical decisions into numerous aspects of the design and anticipated operational areas of the project—air, wastewater, wetlands—enabling the plant to be feasible and successful. Our involvement from the beginning through construction allowed Weston to provide the institutional knowledge to support the project as project stakeholders changed on the client side.
