Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. confirmed last week that while it has looked at a site in Hammond, Ind., for a major rail transfer site, it has not committed to it. PotashCorp also says it has looked at other sites in the Midwest.
“With regard to our having PotashCorp bringing in railcars of fertilizer into Hammond, that has not been decided,” said Tom Pasztor, PotashCorp spokesman. “We have met with city officials, but no agreement has been reached. We are in the very preliminary stages as far as the development is concerned.”
Local officials in Hammond, which is in northwest Indiana and is part of the Chicago metropolitan area, are excited by the PotashCorp interest. “It is a major, major investment that we are talking about at that location,” Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. is quoted as telling the local press, with respect to what would reportedly be an $80 million project at the Gibson Yard rail hub. McDermott said PotashCorp was working with the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad on the project.
There might be a reason McDermott would want the news to come out now. May 3 is primary election day in Hammond, and McDermott is running for re-election.
Hammond Director of Planning and Development Phil Taillon was quoted as saying two other companies are interested in locating there if the deal is finalized, and the total investment could eventually reach $200 million. Neither McDermott nor Taillon returned calls last week. Taillon was also quoted as saying that it would be PotashCorp’s largest transfer facility in North America.
According to the local press, tax incentives are still being negotiated, with the possibility that instead of property taxes the company would make payments that would be used to improve site infrastructure. McDermott was cited as saying that while Hammond wants the deal, “it will not give away the store.”
While McDermott was quoted as saying PotashCorp would have only five to 10 employees at the site, estimates were that railroads would employ 70, and that some 225 would be need for construction.
Indiana Harbor Belt is said to be spending about $800,000 to clear and level 90 acres of Gibson Yard, although one official indicated the work is not for any specific tenant, but is being done in anticipation of future opportunities.