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DILLES BOTTOM -- Living in a house with his wife, grandfather and three children, Dilles Bottom Road resident Karl Underwood said PTT Global Chemical America officials need to realize the $19,000 "fair market value" listed for the property does not account for how much the home means to his family.
Almost two years ago, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and PTT officials gathered at the Statehouse in Columbus to announce plans to spend $100 million for engineering and design work for the giant ethane cracker project, expected to represent a $6 billion investment. Dan Williamson, spokesman for Thailand-based PTT, said officials still plan to make a final decision on whether to build the enormous project by the end of this year.
Earlier this summer, PTT officials paid $13 million to purchase the former R.E. Burger plant site from FirstEnergy Corp., which consists of about 170 acres. However, the entire proposed cracker area encompasses about 500 acres, which includes Ohio-West Virginia Excavating and several smaller parcels of land along Dilles Bottom Road.
"It's only listed at $19,000, but it's worth a lot more to me than that," Underwood said of his approximately 70-year-old home. "It would be nice to get a sum that would let me get something that's comparable."
Williamson said the company has offered "more than 125 percent of the appraised value of every property."
"PTTGC America continues to talk to all landowners who are near the footprint to try to work something out," Williamson said.
Although he declined to reveal the amount of PTT Global Chemical's offer, Underwood said it was not realistic.
"My house may not look like much, but it's our home. Where are we supposed to go for that what little they offered?" Underwood added.
Just down the street from Underwood, Callie Williams lives at 55770 Dilles Bottom Road with her mother.
"They just see it like property that they can get on the cheap. Where are we supposed to go?" she said.
"It makes me mad when they say it's such a generous offer. They're not the ones losing their house."
In the same neighborhood, William and Tonya Rayl live at 55940 Dilles Bottom Road.
"It just seems like you should be able to replace what you have at a comparable level," William Rayl said. "This is such a nice neighborhood."
Now, Moundsville-based attorney Jonathan Turak is representing 10 Dilles Bottom Road families in their dealings with PTT, including the Williams, Rayl and Underwood families.
"I don't think (PTT) fully understands the disruption that this is causing to the lives of these people," he said. "These families didn't have 'for sale' signs on their homes. They should not be asked to make sacrifices for the benefit of a for-profit company."
Turak said PTT made offers to purchase some of the properties his clients own, but they did not accept them.
"The door is open," he said regarding further negotiations. "My clients will not be able to duplicate this environment by moving somewhere else. Many of them have grown up there and have no desire to move."
PTT Response and Option Activities
When asked directly if the idea of using some form of eminent domain has been proposed for PTT to acquire these properties, Williamson said, "no."
"We would like to work out a fair price," he said.
As for other property dealings in the proposed cracker zone, Williamson said the company has reached purchase option agreements with several landowners. He said this sum is 10 percent of the amount at which the owners agreed to sell the property to PTT.
"They get to keep that even if PTTGC America does not proceed with the project," Williamson said of the amounts paid to the property owners. "It demonstrates a good faith effort on the part of the company that they are continuing the process of working toward building the cracker."
Turak, however, has advised his clients against signing such agreements because he said they leave the homeowners with uncertainty.
"You have to live in your house without knowing if they are coming to buy it or not," he said.
Project Status
Initially, PTT officials said they would make a final decision at the beginning of this year, but in February said they would wait until the end of 2017. Williamson said this timeline has not been adjusted.
"It is our goal to make this decision by the end of the year," he said.
Officials estimate building the massive ethane cracker would generate thousands of construction jobs, as well as hundreds of permanent jobs once the plant enters operation.
Hundreds or even thousands of "spin-off" jobs could also result from the ethane cracker's presence, officials have said.
Williamson said two contractors continue working on plans to build the potential plant: Irving, Texas-based Fluor Corp. and San Francisco-based Bechtel Group Inc. Both companies' websites feature examples of their work on similar projects involving the petrochemical industry.
Eventually, PTT officials would need to determine which of these plans, if any, is economically feasible for them to proceed.
"My clients understand that the cracker represents progress for the Ohio Valley," Turak said. "No one will throw themselves in front of the bulldozers. All they want is a fair price."