ODC to hear desalination plant update
- What: Odessa Development Corp. meeting.
- When: 2 p.m. Tuesday.
- Where: Third Floor Conference Room, Odessa City Hall, 411 W. Eighth St.
Odessa Development Corp. members are set to hear more about an Odessa desalination plant at their next meeting at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the third floor conference room of city hall.
Desalination is the process of removing salt and minerals from salt water for fresh water use. If a desalination plant were to be built in Odessa, it could help provide water for Summit Power Group’s clean coal-gasification plant. The plant is expected to need 4.2 million gallons of water per day to operate.
ODC president Austin Keith traveled with one Summit official and several other community members June 16 to El Paso’s Kay Bailey Hutchison Desalination Plant to begin the research process.
“It is a slow process, because you have to go through different angles,” Keith said of the desalination research. “What we’ve got going is not just in hearsay. We’re working.”
Keith said ODC members are currently working on their 2011-2012 budget, which could have funds for the desalination plant as a line item.
ODC members will also hear a presentation on the “Green Freedom” project from University of Texas of the Permian Basin president David Watts and professor Jim Wright. The project would create synthetic fuel by extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and hydrogen from water.
The project, which proposes a $6.5 to $7 million plant be constructed, was presented at the ODC’s June 10 meeting but was not voted on by ODC members. At the meeting, Keith said the project was cutting edge and a great concept.
The board will also consider approving a new training grant program, to which two local industrial companies have already applied. The ODC would pay half of the training costs to retain and expand businesses in the area for the expenditure of sales tax funds.
“The workforce is a critical need to any business locating or expanding,” said Arleene Loyd, Odessa Chamber of Commerce director of business retention and expansion. “Any time you increase the education or skill level of your workforce, you increase your economy by way of salary increases and businesses increasing your bottom line.”
Resolutions will also be made for the 2011-2012 budget and investment policy.
