Who would want a sulfur melting pant near their home? Over 300 residents in Portsmouth made it clear at a public meeting on Tuesday night that they certainly don’t.
The proposal for a sulfur melting plant is being opposed by the residents of Portsmouth along with City Council members who intend on adopting a resolution that opposes the plant, even though the city wouldn’t have control over it.
The construction of a sulfur melting plant is being proposed by Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc., who is in discussions with the Virginia Point Authority about constructing the plant at the commonwealth-run Portsmouth Marine Terminal.
The sulfur plant would reportedly melt pellets of sulfur for Potash’s fertilizer business.
In Virginia, we have a decision to make: do we listen to the will of Virginians or do we allow big corporations to build where and when they choose for the always ubiquitous end of “economic growth?” What about democratic growth?
No one on any side of the political spectrum wants to deter job creation and economic growth. However, there is a right way and a wrong way to go about each of these goals. Building a sulfur plant, which may add a few dozen jobs at best, is not a right way.
If Virginia’s political and business leaders keep thinking about job creation and economic growth through a short term lens, Virginia will leave behind a legacy of old, abandoned, buildings that do little more than remind Virginians of what used to be.
What Virginia needs are short term economic goals that overlap with long term economic goals as well. A sulfur melting plant does not meet this criterion.
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