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BY STEVE CLARK/ The Brownsville Herald

Article published May 3, 2017

BROWNSVILLE – The Port of Brownsville is closer than it’s ever been to finally landing a steel mill, something it’s been pursuing for decades. Brownsville is one of two finalists for a $1.5 billion, advanced flex steel mill identical to Big River Steel’s new plant in Osceola, Ark., the world’s first LEED-certified facility of its kind.

LEED stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.” According to the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is the world’s most widely used green-building rating system. Big River is expected to decide within a few months whether to build a new mill in Brownsville or expand its Arkansas operation.

The new project has been dubbed “Project America.” Port officials say it would directly support 500 new full-time jobs wit

BY STEVE CLARK/The Brownsville Herald

Article published May 3, 2017

BROWNSVILLE – More than two years after shutting down operations, the former Esco Marine Inc. ship recycling yard will restart operations under new ownership and a new name: SteelCoast.

The new company is a joint venture of Hilco Redevelopments Partners, a unit of Hilco Global, and MCM Marine Services, an affiliate of MCM Management Corp.

Gary Epstein, Hilco Global’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, said the purchase of assets from the previous owner was completed Monday evening and that operations would restart immediately. Kris Wood, Esco’s former vice president of administration, was tapped as SteelCoast CEO.

Esco ceased operations in February 2015, putting 300 employees out of work, and filed for bankruptcy the following month. The decommissioned

Texas LNG contracted Samsung Engineering and KBR, Inc. to design and build its LNG export facility proposed at the Port of Brownsville.

Samsung Engineering and KBR will provide Texas LNG with pre-final investment decision (pre-FID) detailed engineering and post-final investment decision (post-FID) engineering, procurement and construction services for its proposed 4 million tons per year LNG export facility.

Samsung Engineering has already completed the conceptual study, pre-front end engineering design (Pre-FEED) and FEED for the project.

The Pre-FID detailed engineering, expected to begin this year, will include further design and schedule optimization, identification of long lead items and early works commitments, early preparation of purchase orders, and all due diligence in relation to technical commercial and contractual matters that will enable Samsung Engineering and KBR

A bill creating a fund supporting future improvements to ship channels in Texas is heading to the full Senate for consideration.

Senate Bill 28, filed by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, and co-authored by senators Juan “Chuy” Hijonosa, D-McAllen, and Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, received unanimous approval from the Senate Transportation Committee in March and is now awaiting approval from the Senate and House chambers.

The bill proposes the creation of a ship channel improvement revolving fund, controlled by the Texas Department of Transportation, which would help navigation districts finance qualified projects like channel widening or deepening. According to the bill, only projects authorized under the Water Resources and Development Act (WRDA) would be considered for funding.

In December 2016, the Port of Brownsville received full congressional authorization to pursue fede

Pre-registration is open for the annual Port of Brownsville 5K/1M run/walk scheduled for March 4, 2017.

The event is part of The Challenge-RGV, an initiative by the University of Texas School of Public Health encouraging local residents to increase physical activity and live a healthy life.

To register, download form POB 5K1M REGISTRATION 2017 and submit to info@portofbrownsville.com, or call (956) 831-4592. There is no entry fee.