Safety and productivity define one of the region’s most successful but least-known large-scale industrial operations.
Port Arthur General Manager Dietrich Hövener help pull the curtain back on Veolia’s complex, which includes a hazardous waste incinerator with 250 full-time employees and burns 60,000 tons of hazardous waste annually.
“Last year we only had one reportable injury,” Hövener noted. “The year before, none. For 250 people moving 30,000 pieces a month of small containers, a lot of different times in and out, manual process, aging facility, that is something I am extremely proud of. If you are a contractor that comes there, you will see that culture there, as well. Guys are trying to do the right thing. We are not perfect by any means, but that is our intent.”
Hövener, who spoke recently at the Port Arthur Chamber Contractors Business Development Group, joked through his noticeable South African accent that he might not be from Southeast Texas; he does know he has found a home.
He is married with two children, and the family quickly found a home in a local church.
“And I am a deacon in that church in Nederland,” he said. “They will even let me preach every now and then if you can believe it. I really appreciate the people. I think we are really salt of the earth people. That’s the point. I love being a part of it. I have been all across the globe, but this is home. I don’t want to move anymore.”
In Port Arthur, Veolia processes more than 27,000 containers monthly and each year destroys more than 55,000 tons of diverse hazardous materials. The Port Arthur facility is the biggest revenue generator at a single location for the global environmental solutions and services business.
It’s not just about burning the waste, Hövener stressed Veolia works to recycle what it can and maintains very high compliance standards, sometimes higher then what local authorities require.
“Veolia is looking to grow,” he said. “Our division’s objective is by 2030 to double its revenue. So, right now, the waste division was a little over $1 billion (in total revenue), and we’re looking to be at $2 billion in five years’ time. It’s very ambitious. Some of that is going to come from mergers and acquisitions. Some of that is going to come from organic growth, as well.”
In the Golden Triangle, that means Veolia is always looking for people to partner with and help improve what they are doing.
The Port Arthur site was first opened in 1975 as a landfill and was purchased by the current ownership in 2002. It is located at 7665 Texas Highway 73, approximately 3.5 miles west of Taylor’s Bayou on 3,300-rural acres of which only 450-acres are involved in waste activity, company officials said.
Its treatment complex is permitted to handle all six RCRA hazardous waste code categories (ignitable, toxic, corrosive, acute hazardous, EP toxic, and reactive) as well as most PCB wastes.
“We can do infectious waste,” Hövener said. “We do DEA substances. We often get van loads of drugs from the border coming in. Guys come in there with their long guns. It’s a big to-do. They bring a bunch of vehicles in. It’s very high security. We process that very efficiently. We’re helping clean the country up with that stuff, as well.”
The local site has also worked with the military to assist with sarin gas and chemical weapons breakdown.
Hövener said local professionals have managed a lot of hard-to-handle materials.
“If we’re not doing business with you guys, think about what we do and reach out,” he said. “We are local even though I come from far away. I do believe in supporting local. We have a lot of on-site service needs. We have contract labor all the time for mechanical, electrical, scaffolding, fire systems, you name it. We need resources there. We’re always looking for help and relationships on that end.”
Veolia is working to review the Port Arthur location’s high-level operations and possibly enlarge its output potential to burn more waste and become more compliant.
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