NEWS

Bigger than Nissan: Hinds site could land giant project

Clay Chandler, and Sam R. Hall
An aerial view of the Nissan plant in Canton.

A notice filed by Gov. Phil Bryant's office with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suggests western Hinds County could be in line for a manufacturing facility bigger than Nissan.

The documents filed July 9 with the Corps' Vicksburg District Office describe the construction of a 5.2 million square foot industrial building and operations center, a 32-acre parking lot, 52.75 acres of dry detention ponds, a 14.5-acre wet detention pond, and 9,500 linear feet of new railroad spur.

For comparison, Nissan's plant in Canton is 4.2 million square feet.

The proposed site, located just north of I-20 between Clinton and Bolton, is referred to in the filing as "The Norrell Road Site." Site plans attached as exhibits were prepared by the Hinds County Economic Development Authority.

Bryant spokeswoman Nicole Webb said she was unfamiliar with the filing.

"If it's economic development, we'll never comment on ongoing projects until they're publicly announced," Webb said. MDA spokesman Jeff Rent said the same.

Sources contacted who admitted any knowledge of the project would not comment on the record. However, multiple officials confirmed Mississippi is one of no more than three states in final contention for the project. No one would confirm a company or industry involved.

Sen. David Blount, D-Jackson, who currently represents the area, said Thursday that he was not aware of any project. "This is the first I've heard of it," he said when contacted.

Clinton Mayor Phil Fisher said he didn't know any specifics about the project but that it was a county deal. He said he had not been contacted by the state about anything the size of this proposal.

The filing says the project site is located on a 640-acre tract of land and would impact approximately 0.72 acres of emergent wetlands, 2.25 acres of scrub-shrub wetlands, 115.67 acres of wooded wetlands, 5,529.86 linear feet of a perennial stream, 7,782.65 linear feet of intermittent streams, 5,144.65 linear feet of ephemeral streams and 1.93 acres of ponds.

Hinds County Economic Development Authority executive director Blake Wallace said that agency is marketing the site, but has not secured a prospect for it.

"We are analyzing it for a mega-site because Hinds County doesn't have one of those," he said.

Hinds County Board of Supervisors president Darrell McQuirter, whose district includes the site, did not return a cell phone message.

Contact Clay Chandler at (601) 961-7264 or cchandler@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @claychand on Twitter.

Contact Sam R. Hall at (601) 961-7163 or srhall@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @samrhall on Twitter.