Overview
- Westwin Elements scheduled a Feb. 2 session from 6–8 p.m. at the Richmond Hill City Center for CEO KaLeigh Long to answer questions.
- The company is seeking to buy the former Caesarstone site in Belfast Commerce Park for a refinery it says would add 800 jobs with average pay near $90,000.
- Residents are divided, with opponents citing EPA-noted cancer risks from nickel refinery dust and the site’s proximity to schools and nearby marshes.
- Because the land sale is private, local authorities cannot block a purchase, and any $230 million in revenue bonds would be taken up at publicly noticed meetings, according to development authority chair Jeff Glazer.
- Coverage highlights Westwin’s Oklahoma pilot expansion stalling after a local authority shut it down, and critics point to reported lawsuits and financial disputes in questioning the firm’s credibility.