Shell announces it will shutter its Convent refinery by the end of the month, laying off 700 workers and costing the St. James Parish government an estimated 24 million dollars a year in tax revenue.
The facility has been around since 1967 and accounts for an estimated 27 percent of local tax revenues. Parish President Pete Dufrense said the hit to services will be substantial.
“We are going to have to consider which services that we have that we are providing to our residents, if they are going to be affected and how, and which services we are going to discontinue first,” said Dufrense.
The closure will cost 3.8 million to local law enforcement, 8.7 million to the school system, and 6.7 million in parish government Ad Valorem tax loss.
Dufresne says Shell told the parish the closure was due to the site’s lack of profitability and that they have been working to find an interested buyer for the location since July.
“We are very hopeful that it is going to be repurposed for another refinery, the infrastructure that is in place with the rail system and the river, the opportunities I mean our parish is going to be significantly impacted if it doesn’t reopen,” said Dufrense.
Those working at the facility will remain employed until February of next year and Shell says they will attempt to place them elsewhere in the company, potentially at Norco, Geismar, Port Allen, or other sites throughout the state. Shell employs about 4,000 Louisianans.
St. James Sheriff Willy Martin says the company has committed to cleaning out the facility.
“They are saying that the product that will be sold will be sold. We asked them about raw materials and they assured us that there will be no raw material on the site at the completion of the shutdown,” said martin.
The official Shell statement on the closing reads “The decision is part of the company’s global strategy to invest in a core set of uniquely integrated manufacturing sites that are also strategically positioned for the transition to a low-carbon future.”
Comments