DILLES BOTTOM — Houses continue to come crashing down — and more property is being acquired — in the Dilles Bottom area in anticipation of a future ethane cracker plant being built.

Dan Williamson, Columbus-based spokesman for PTT Global Chemical America, said the developer still plans to eventually move forward with its proposed petrochemical manufacturing project. He added that the demolition of three homes in that area during the past week is a continuation of the lengthy site preparation process.

“That was a pretty full neighborhood five years ago,” WIlliamson said of the chosen location that includes the property where the former FirstEnergy R.E. Burger coal-fired power plant once stood. “One of the first things we did in 2016 or so was to have a series of meetings with residents to explain this would be a substantial complex — that it would disrupt their lives.”

When offered the opportunity to sell their properties to the company, Williamson said, the majority of nearby residents did so.

Ever since then, Thailand-based PTTGCA has been working to gradually demolish homes that have become vacant.

Williamson explained that when houses are vacated, they immediately begin to become unsafe. Not only do the structures deteriorate, but empty homes can attract trespassers and even animals.

The three homes razed during recent days bring the total number of demolitions at the site to 14. Williamson said this “closes the book” on tearing down homes PTTGCA already has purchased.

Still, more demolition work may lie in the future. Williamson said the company is now working with area residents to acquire two more properties.

Activity at the proposed plant site has slowed somewhat in recent years, a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the withdrawal of PTTGCA’s investment partner, Daelim Chemical USA of South Korea. This slowdown has led to speculation that the project is “dead” or that it will only move forward under another developer. Williamson, though, said this is not the case.

“Actions speak louder than words,” Williamson said, noting that PTTGCA continues to invest money and resources to buy property and develop the site. “That is not something they would do unless they intended to go forward.”

Williamson stressed, however, that no final investment decision has been made and that PTTGCA continues to search for a new investment partner. He said he has no timeline for when an official announcement might be made.

Launched in April 2015, the project has been in the works for more than six years. In addition to property acquisition and site preparation, the effort has included obtaining air and water pollution permits, securing grant funding and ensuring the availability of necessary ethane storage capacity, infrastructure and a freight transportation network.

PTTGC is Thailand’s largest petrochemical producer, according to the Bangkok Post. Its American subsidiary, PTTGCA, is exploring the Belmont County project. It holds a more than 500-acre site along the Ohio River south of Shadyside in Belmont County and has invested millions in property acquisition and site preparation.

If it is built, the plant would use six natural gas-fired furnaces to “crack,” or break apart, ethane molecules. The resulting ethylene or polyethylene could be used as a component of plastics, textiles and household or industrial chemicals.

Ethane is a natural gas liquid that is abundant in the local natural gas stream. Plans are evolving for construction of an ethane storage facility in northern Monroe County, in salt caverns located about 8 miles from the PTTGCA site at Dilles Bottom.

Opponents of the project have questioned its viability in the current economy, as well as its potential negative impact on the local environment and on residents’ health. Those groups, including the Concerned Ohio River Residents, tout “a cleaner, more sustainable and financially viable alternative” industry and a more diversified economy not tied to fossil fuels as the best path forward for the region.

For his part, Williamson has said that PTTGCA works hard to respond to residents’ concerns and has a track record as an environmentally conscious company in Asia. One example of the company’s efforts to be a good neighbor came in 2019, when PTTGCA and environmental organizations that appealed an air quality permit for the company’s proposed cracker plant announced they had reached an agreement on the matter. PTTGCA agreed to enhance environmental protection and public transparency measures beyond what is required by OEPA if the project goes forward.

All of this, Williamson said, indicates that the developer still intends to complete the project.

“They believe they can be successful,” he said.