Residential questions remain as Westwin begins process to build pilot plant

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Lawton Constitution is counting down the top 5 stories from 2023. The top story will run on Sunday, Dec. 31.

An annexation discussion expected today by the City Council is the latest in a series of decisions made by community leaders who want Lawton to be the site of a cobalt/nickel refinery.

The council, along with members of three local economic development entities, have been making decisions all year on plans by Westwin Elements to build a refinery on a 480-acre tract located south of the west industrial park, at Southwest 112th Street and Bishop Road. While Westwin hasn’t yet committed to building the $732.5 million refinery in Lawton, the company is working on plans to build a pilot plant, a scaled-down version of the refinery.

Lawton’s involvement in the project dates to mid-2022, when the Lawton Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) said it was working on what members publicly identified as Project Blue Braveheart, acting as facilitators between the unnamed company and local economic development entities. The City Council publicly committed on Aug. 23, 2022, agreeing to a $10 million economic development package for the unnamed company.

That name came in February 2023, when the City Council, Comanche County Industrial Development Authority (CCIDA) and Lawton Economic Development Authority (LEDA) identified Project Blue Braveheart as Westwin Elements. The name came with a pledge from the City of Lawton and CCIDA to provide a $24 million incentive package: $12 million in money ($10 million from the City of Lawton; $2 million from CCIDA) and 480 acres of land that CCIDA would transfer to Westwin ownership. In exchange, Westwin would build what it said was the nation’s first cobalt/nickel refinery, a $450 million investment that would employ 2,335 people when it was fully operational.

The details of that redevelopment agreement changed in Summer 2023 when the City Council, LEDA, CCIDA and Westwin said they would first build a pilot plant, intended to provide the data needed for the bankable feasibility study that bankers and investors would require before they put money into the project, local bankers said. The agreement specified the City of Lawton and CCIDA would provide $3 million in cash and 40 acres from the initial incentive package for that pilot plant, with LEDA Chairman Fred Fitch saying the remainder of the package would remain in escrow pending development of the refinery. Under that agreement, the pilot plant would be under construction by Oct. 1, and completed by March 1, 2024. The workforce for the automated plant was downgraded to 735, but the value of the plant increased to $732.5 million, a figure Westwin CEO KaLeigh Long expected to increase as the refinery project fully developed.

It was an excited community that gathered on the 40-acre tract on Aug. 22 to break ground on the pilot plant. At a community luncheon that followed, Long outlined a $10.6 million project that included construction and the equipment necessary to refine nickel and cobalt through the carbonyl process, a century-old technique that officials said would be safe because it was “tried and true” and because of safety measures developed for such plants in other countries. Addressing residential fears, city leaders said the agreement contained a $14 million cleanup insurance policy to cover any problems that might occur. LEDA Chairman Fred Fitch and CCIDA Chairman Paul Ellwanger said that if Westwin declined to proceed beyond the pilot plant phase, the building(s) would revert to Lawton, giving the city a “spec building” for other industrial prospects.

In December, the redevelopment agreement changed a third time.

Dec. 12, the City Council, LEDA and CCIDA all approved an amended redevelopment agreement, one that set a new timeline. Under its terms, Westwin must launch construction of a 4,680 square foot steel test facility and a 4,906 square foot steel administrative, maintenance and storage building by July 1, 2024, and complete construction by year’s end.

Dan Batchelor, the Center for Economic Development Law founder who helped the City of Lawton craft the agreements, said there is “great interest” in the project from commercial lenders/investors, as well as the federal government. The latter means Westwin can expect some funding for the $14 to $16 million project to come from federal sources, Batchelor said.

Local entities continued their work to support the project. In early November, the City Council approved plans and specifications for a project to install a new 20-inch water main along Southwest 97th Street, then west on Bishop Road to the pilot plant site. M&T Septic & Backhoe Service Inc. was selected for that $2.44 million project in early December, with the city opting to fast-track the work by buying the waterline and related materials so the contractor could begin work immediately and be done in three months. The work is among $7 million in infrastructure upgrades promised by the City of Lawton.

While many community leaders are confident of the project and Westwin’s assurances of safety measures, some residents — especially those who live or own property near the plant — question whether the refining process will be safe and whether the plant should be moved elsewhere.

Local economic development officials and Westwin sought to ease those concerns through two town hall meetings keyed toward answering questions about the project. Some residents remained skeptical, even after a Dec. 4 town hall where Westwin engineers explained the refining process. Those residents continue to press for details on monitoring and safety precautions, saying their questions haven’t been answered.