DOE hosts public meeting on proposed multibillion-dollar synthetic natural gas plant in Miss.

DOE hosts public meeting on Miss. new gas plant

MOSS POINT, Miss. — The U.S. Department of Energy and Mississippi Gasification, which has planned a $2 billion energy project in Moss Point, will hold a public meeting on the facility.

The meeting will kick off a lengthy federal environmental impact assessment needed to secure $1.7 billion in DOE loans for the synthetic natural gas facility.

Mississippi Gasification, owned by New York-based Leucadia National Corp., wants to build a plant on the former International Paper Co. property to turn petroleum coke, a byproduct of crude oil refineries, into substitute natural gas for industrial customers across the Southeast.

Construction would take 36 months, and the plant would begin full production by mid-2015.

The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Pelican Landing Conference Center in Moss Point.