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| Earth moving equipment remains idle at the Holcim plant in Catskill on Monday, the last day of operations. The cement facility is being mothballed due to foreign competition and the domestic economic slump. Photo by Claude Haton |
Cement industry crumbles as Holcim departs
By Doron Tyler Antrim
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
CATSKILL — For about a century, workers have been mining limestone here, a key ingredient in producing cement. At its height, three cement plants mined quarries along a stretch of Route 9W, near the aptly named hamlet of Cementon.
But now, with the ceasing of operations at the Holcim plant on Monday, that era, it seems, is coming to a close.
“Holcim is just not going to stay,” said Greene County Legislator Forest Cotten, D-Catskill.
Although it’s too early to know whether that will prove true, there are few here confident that the Swiss cement giant will restart its operations here. “It’s a shame,” Cotten said of the situation.
“There is a chance,” countered acting Catskill Town Supervisor Pat Walsh. He said the area’s “world-class” supply of limestone offers at least some hope that a new operator could be found for the aging 1960s plant. “It’s going to take a major renovation to get that plant going again,” Walsh said, however. Such a move — which is in the works at the Lafarge cement plant some 20 miles north in Ravena — is something Holcim is apparently unwilling to do.
Last year, Holcim inaugurated a new plant on the Mississippi River in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., a facility the company says emits 10 to 25 percent less global warming-causing carbon dioxide than plants it closed in 2009.
In March, Holcim announced plans to shutter the Catskill plant because of “continued economic challenges and market conditions.”
“We deeply regret having to mothball this plant,” Bernard Terver, Holcim’s president and chief executive, said in a statement at the time. “We have looked at all available options and feel that this move is necessary in order to meet the company’s current and future business needs.”
Decreased demand for cement — a result of the collapsed housing market and economic downturn — and increased costs and competitiveness from abroad have plagued the financial performance of the Catskill plant.
“The economy clearly has entered a stage of self-sustaining growth, but impediments to a construction recovery are so large that it will take until 2012 to see significant increases in activity,” said Edward Sullivan, chief economist for the Portland Cement Association, in the group’s latest economic forecast in April. “Tight lending standards, declining property values and reduced state infrastructure spending all need to be resolved for a true recovery in construction.”
The PCA represents cement manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada, including Holcim.
Another concern with the closing of the Catskill plant is blight. Case in point: the former Alsen cement plant, just down the road from Holcim. That facility, which was abandoned in 1982, has succumbed to overgrowth and is covered with graffiti and other debris. The property is owned by the Glens Falls Lehigh Cement Co.
“It’s an eyesore,” Wayne Speenburgh, Republican chairman of the Greene County Legislature, said of the Alsen plant. “It’s disgusting.”
“There’s really not much we can do about it,” he said, however.
Walsh agreed. “That’s a problem we’ve got,” he said.
When asked whether he thinks the Holcim plant will eventually look like the Alsen facility, Cotten said: “To be frank, yes.”
“I would hope not,” Speenburgh said.
Holcim has said it will maintain permits at the plant and continue to perform basic maintenance following the closure — a decision enabling the company to restart operations at some point or find a new operator. Holcim took over operations from St. Lawrence Cement in January 2008.
The plant’s closure means the loss of about 100 jobs. “I know some of the people,” Speenburgh said. “They’re struggling to find another job. It’s tough to tell somebody 50, 55 years old to start another career.”
A small group of laid off employees are receiving help. M.A. Wiltse, director of the Columbia-Greene Workforce Investment Office, said Monday there are currently five Holcim workers in its retraining program, which offers services to unemployed workers looking to enter a new field. The office can also provide up to $4,000 in tuition assistance for workers looking to enter an approved occupation training or school program.
Wiltse said the Holcim workers are exploring professions like nursing and trades like heating, ventilation and air conditioning. One worker is seeking his tractor-trailer drivers license, she said.
John Dushane, who served as vice president of the local International Brotherhood of Boilermakers union, was approved on Monday to serve as a part-time dispatcher for the Catskill Police Department.
According to Dennis Smith, who worked as an equipment operator and served as chairman of the boilermakers union, Holcim has offered laid off employees a good severance package and paid for a resume writing and computer skills classes.
To reach reporter Doron Tyler Antrim call 518-943-2100 ext. 3323 or email dantrim@thedailymail.net.
But now, with the ceasing of operations at the Holcim plant on Monday, that era, it seems, is coming to a close.
“Holcim is just not going to stay,” said Greene County Legislator Forest Cotten, D-Catskill.
Although it’s too early to know whether that will prove true, there are few here confident that the Swiss cement giant will restart its operations here. “It’s a shame,” Cotten said of the situation.
“There is a chance,” countered acting Catskill Town Supervisor Pat Walsh. He said the area’s “world-class” supply of limestone offers at least some hope that a new operator could be found for the aging 1960s plant. “It’s going to take a major renovation to get that plant going again,” Walsh said, however. Such a move — which is in the works at the Lafarge cement plant some 20 miles north in Ravena — is something Holcim is apparently unwilling to do.
Last year, Holcim inaugurated a new plant on the Mississippi River in Ste. Genevieve, Mo., a facility the company says emits 10 to 25 percent less global warming-causing carbon dioxide than plants it closed in 2009.
In March, Holcim announced plans to shutter the Catskill plant because of “continued economic challenges and market conditions.”
“We deeply regret having to mothball this plant,” Bernard Terver, Holcim’s president and chief executive, said in a statement at the time. “We have looked at all available options and feel that this move is necessary in order to meet the company’s current and future business needs.”
Decreased demand for cement — a result of the collapsed housing market and economic downturn — and increased costs and competitiveness from abroad have plagued the financial performance of the Catskill plant.
“The economy clearly has entered a stage of self-sustaining growth, but impediments to a construction recovery are so large that it will take until 2012 to see significant increases in activity,” said Edward Sullivan, chief economist for the Portland Cement Association, in the group’s latest economic forecast in April. “Tight lending standards, declining property values and reduced state infrastructure spending all need to be resolved for a true recovery in construction.”
The PCA represents cement manufacturers in the U.S. and Canada, including Holcim.
Another concern with the closing of the Catskill plant is blight. Case in point: the former Alsen cement plant, just down the road from Holcim. That facility, which was abandoned in 1982, has succumbed to overgrowth and is covered with graffiti and other debris. The property is owned by the Glens Falls Lehigh Cement Co.
“It’s an eyesore,” Wayne Speenburgh, Republican chairman of the Greene County Legislature, said of the Alsen plant. “It’s disgusting.”
“There’s really not much we can do about it,” he said, however.
Walsh agreed. “That’s a problem we’ve got,” he said.
When asked whether he thinks the Holcim plant will eventually look like the Alsen facility, Cotten said: “To be frank, yes.”
“I would hope not,” Speenburgh said.
Holcim has said it will maintain permits at the plant and continue to perform basic maintenance following the closure — a decision enabling the company to restart operations at some point or find a new operator. Holcim took over operations from St. Lawrence Cement in January 2008.
The plant’s closure means the loss of about 100 jobs. “I know some of the people,” Speenburgh said. “They’re struggling to find another job. It’s tough to tell somebody 50, 55 years old to start another career.”
A small group of laid off employees are receiving help. M.A. Wiltse, director of the Columbia-Greene Workforce Investment Office, said Monday there are currently five Holcim workers in its retraining program, which offers services to unemployed workers looking to enter a new field. The office can also provide up to $4,000 in tuition assistance for workers looking to enter an approved occupation training or school program.
Wiltse said the Holcim workers are exploring professions like nursing and trades like heating, ventilation and air conditioning. One worker is seeking his tractor-trailer drivers license, she said.
John Dushane, who served as vice president of the local International Brotherhood of Boilermakers union, was approved on Monday to serve as a part-time dispatcher for the Catskill Police Department.
According to Dennis Smith, who worked as an equipment operator and served as chairman of the boilermakers union, Holcim has offered laid off employees a good severance package and paid for a resume writing and computer skills classes.
To reach reporter Doron Tyler Antrim call 518-943-2100 ext. 3323 or email dantrim@thedailymail.net.
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hadenough wrote on Jun 15, 2011 3:22 PM: