INDUSTRY

Dow Goes to Louisiana Texas Division, expand ing $45 mill ion in next 18 months, overf lows into neighbor ing state

V v ε HAVE NOT YET fully developed our plans, but w e expect within a rela­tively few years to have at least $20 million invested in Louisiana—and to employ in the neighborhood of 500 people/' says Leland I. Doan, Dow's president. "We will produce caustic soda, chlorine, and several organic chemicals," he added, in a recent an­nouncement of major expansions in Texas and Louisiana.

Doan discloses that three tracts of land on the west bank of the Missis­sippi River, in the Baton Rouge-Plaque-mine area of Louisiana, have been placed under option as possible sites for new plants. "We will exercise one and possibly two of the Louisiana op­tions," Doan says.

One option, for 1700 acres with an approximate purchase price of $1 mil­lion, stretches across the base of a peninsula about two miles north of Plaquemine and 10 miles south of Baton Rouge. The peninsula is located be­tween the Plaquemine and Missouri Bends of the Mississippi River. A sec­ond option, for 1100 acres with an ap­proximate purchase price of $780,000, lies about three miles south of Plaque­mine. The third option, just south of Port Allen and across the Mississippi from Baton Rouge, is for the purchase of 1100 acres at an approximate price of $1.2 million.

"A 30-acre portion of this third op­tion is in the city of Port Allen directly on the river front," Doan indicated. "One attractive feature is that it is adjacent to the Greater Baton Rouge port installation. If we finally select this site, it means that we will proba­bly ship through that port instead of building our own facilities. With our experience in barge shipping on the

Intracoastal Canal to and from our Texas plants, we consider as an even more important feature the fact that the option is on the route of the already-authorized Indian Village-Port Allen extension of the Intracoastal water­way." (C&EN, Sept. 6, 1954, page 3494.)

But Dow isn't the only company that has picked Baton Rouge in recent months. Baton Rouge hit the jackpot collecting land options or purchases

Baton Rouge Chemical Growth in 1955

Company Ideal Cement Ethyl Corp. Copolymer Corp. U. S. Rubber Esso Standard Oil Foster Grant Allied Chemical & Dye

Tax Exemption Applications $2,819,296

800,000 115,740 383,403 310,100

1,250,000 1,521,599

from Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical, Du Pont, Esso Standard, Grace Chemi­cal, Naugatuck Division of U. S. Rub­ber, and Wyandotte, a total of 10,624 acres!

• Freeport to Grow. In Freeport, A. P. Beutel, Dow vice president and Texas Division general manager, re­vealed a divisional expansion program of approximately $45 million planned during the next 18 months. Beutel says that the Texas Division expansion pro­gram will include new production plants, expansions of present plants, and new research and service facilities. New plants will be built to produce acetylene, methyl acetylene, ethanol-

Baton Rouge Hits Jackpot Company

Kaiser Aluminum Dow Dow Dow Du Pont Esso Standard Grace Chemical Naugatuck Wyandotte

Deal Purchase Option Option Option Option Purchase Option Purchase Option

Acreage 3200 1700 1100 1100 2500

24 150 150 700

Location Gramercy West Bank West Bank West Bank North Baton Rouge Industrial Area Industrial Canal Industrial Canal Undisclosed

WEST BANK GREATER BATON! ROUGE PORT FAG

Three tracts placed under option by Dow as possible locations for plants to produce caustic soda, chlorine, and several organic chemicals total up to 3900 acres. One, or possibly two, of the tracts will b e purchased for $20 million expansion in Louisiana

amines, synthetic glycerol, and soil fumigants.

Among the plants to be expanded are those producing butadiene, chlorine, ethylene oxide, methyl chloroform, syn­thetic glycerol, glycol, magnesium, per-chloroethylene,- and styrene. In addi­tion, the program calls for the con­struction of a division administration center, new pilot plants and laboratory facilities, and a 29-mile gas pipeline; expansion of the division's antifreeze canning plant and W. R. Veazey Re­search Center; and replacement of a power house turbogenerator.

Beutel said that construction on some of the projects was now under way and that work on all others would com­mence at different times in 1956. The present schedule calls for the last proj­ect to be completed by mid-1958.

Texas Division employment, now around 6200, is expected to increase to around 7000 as a result of the expansion, Beutel says. By next December, ap­proximately 2200 contractor-employees will be engaged in Dow work there. At the present time, about 1000 con­tractor-employees are working on Dow projects at Freeport. •

1 0 6 6 C&EN M A R C H 5, 1956

EAST BATON ROUS PARISH

WEST BATON ROUGE PARISH

; « 7 0 0 ' A C R E S

IBERVILLE PARISH

**>LAQUEMINE

$ Ï Î O O ' ' A C R E S

INDIAN ' VILLAGE

I B E R V I L L E PARISH