An amendment was added to House Bill 287 to extend tax credits for infrastructure improvements to hydrocarbon processing facilities, which would include Agrium’s Nikiski facility.
The House Rules Committee heard from Tom Wright with House Speaker’s office on the amendment.
Wright: “What this amendment does basically is put the Agrium plant into the bill as far as the tax credits and any other credits that are included. Right now Agrium’s looking at inspecting, assessing and possible renovation of the existing facility. Its a $200 million project, requires a temporary work force of about 440 workers, about $75 million in direct labor income over the two year rehab time frame.”
We also spoke with Agrium’s Plant Manager Steve Wendt about what changes the amendment could bring if the bill passes.
Wendt: “What it does is that it changes the economics for us positively so if the economics are a tight difficult decision, then this helps Agrium makes that decision in the positive for new jobs potentially on the Kenai.”