– The Alabama State Port Authority will purchase property where Birmingham-based Walter Energy eyed its Blue Creek Coal Terminal project.
The Port Authority will purchase 80 Virginia St. and 60 additional acres of property located less than a mile from the terminal's proposed location on Baker Street. The total transaction, which is still pending, is $25 million.
Walter Energy, in a company release Friday, indicated that the authority will utilize the property to expand its container business. Lyons indicated last week that the state was interested in purchasing the property along the city's waterfront.
The state and the company, meanwhile, have agreed to terms that Walter Energy's eventual coal export expansion will take place at the McDuffie Coal Terminal. It's unclear what kind of modifications to the state site will be required to handle an additional 6.5 million tons that would transport through the Port of Mobile.
"We have said all along that we're concerned about making sure that as we expand in the future, that we'll have adequate surplus capacity through Mobile for our Alabama coal," Walter Energy spokesman Tom Hoffman said. "We didn't think (in recent months) that there was existing capacity to meet our needs as well as the needs of other customers. If this agreement is consummated, Alabama docks indicated that they are prepare to provide the capacity we need."
Hoffman said he didn't know if the agreement will alleviate concerns from residents who live in the surround neighborhoods and downtown Mobile who, in recent months, have formed a coalition to fight against the Blue Creek Coal project.
Greg Vaughan, an attorney who helped spearhead petitions in opposition to the coal terminal project, said the pending sale is a "step in the right direction."
"Assuming that the state uses the Virginia and Baker Street properties for operations other than coal storage, I believe this transaction is a step in right direction towards improving the quality of life for residents who live near the Port of Mobile," Vaughan said.
The Mobile City Council is scheduled to vote on the planning approval to allow the terminal at 80 Virginia St., but it's unclear if a vote will take place.
Check back at al.com/mobile for more updates later in the day.