Titan changes lobbying firm to help with Castle Hayne project

Titan changes lobbying firm to help with Castle Hayne project
13 September 2010


Titan America, which plans to build a new plant in New Hanover County has hired a new law firm to represent it as it trudges through the environmental permitting process.

Titan America recently hired Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC, which replaces John Merritt of McGuireWoods Consulting in Raleigh.

"We appreciate the excellent support we’ve received from McGuireWoods," Titan spokeswoman Kate McClain said in an e-mail. "John Merritt has been a valuable member of the team and has provided excellent counsel and lobbying effort. For the phase of the project we’re now entering, we know we need to reinforce our legal support. The services of Womble Carlyle are well suited to assist us."
Merritt declined to comment.

Bob Odom is general manager of development for Titan-subsidiary Carolinas Cement, which is planning the Castle Hayne cement plant. If all goes well, he said, construction could begin in 2013.

The new law firm will help it navigate the state environmental review process, which the company is going through now. He said some existing cement plants will likely have to shut down because of the cost of adhering to tighter EPA standards. That will create more demand for new cement plants, he said.

"We still think it’s a good project," Odom said. "We’re not going anywhere."
Published under Cement News