The former SABIC/GE site, near the Washington Works plant, had a deed of sale filed in early August . The sale originally occurred in 2015 when Braskem America Inc. purchased the 374-acre property from Appalachian Shale Cracker Enterprise for over $10 million, but the proper paperwork was not filed until recently. (Photo by Brett Dunlap)

WASHINGTON, W.Va. — A company who was involved with the proposed ethane cracker facility for Wood County a decade ago recently filed the deed of sale for the former SABIC/GE property from 2015.

On Aug. 3, Braskem America filed the confirmatory deed with the Wood County Clerk’s Office.

“They did not file that back in 2015,” County Clerk Joe Gonzales said. “The initial deed had never been recorded.

“Someone came in and recorded the deed or sent it in from the attorney’s office.”

As a result, Wood County received just over $60,000 in transfer taxes from the transaction, he said.

Back in 2015, Braskem America Inc. purchased the 374-acre property from Appalachian Shale Cracker Enterprise for $10,910,890.

Kevin McGowan, president of McGowan Corporate Real Estate Advisors, who handled the original sale, said “the filing was part of an administrative process related to an acquisition that was made in the past.”

Stacy Torpey, spokesperson for Braskem America also said the “filing was part of an administrative process of an acquisition that was made in the past.”

Plans for the property remain unknown.

Officials in the past have said the property is out of the floodplain and has river and rail access.

Lindsey Piersol, director of Wood County Development, has told county officials the property has been marketed and shown to potential buyers.

“There has been significant interest in the site over the last year,” she said in an email. ” I’m very optimistic about the future of the site.”

She could not go into details about what the site is being looked at for.

The $4 billion Appalachian Shale Cracker Enterprise, also known as Project ASCENT, was announced in November 2013 at a ceremony attended by then-Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and numerous state and local officials. The SABIC property at Washington Bottom was also the former location of Marbon, Borg-Warner and GE Plastics. It was purchased in 2014 with Brazil-based Odebrecht developing the project, which would have been operated by Braskem America.

In preparation for the project, developers did environmental studies on the site, applied for permits, secured ethane supplies and arranged for some of the technology that would be used in the facilities. Changes in the natural gas market caused the project to be re-evaluated, although many state officials believed it would still ultimately come to fruition.

Odebrecht withdrew from the project in 2016, with Braskem indicating it would continue to pursue it. Nothing had been announced recently about the project or intentions for the site.

The Wood County Commission was told by plant officials river access for Washington Works would be maintained as barge related facilities are adjacent to the former SABIC/GE property.

Dan Turner, spokesman for DuPont said the company entered a deal for perpetual access and use at the site. The paperwork was filed Aug. 18 with the county clerk.

The agreement with SABIC Innovative Plastics US LLC (together with its successors) gives DuPont “an irrevocable and perpetual right of access to” to the riverfront facilities.

“(DuPont) desires to continue to use the operational barge dock and related pile moorings located on and adjacent to the Ohio River,” the paperwork said adding it includes the barge dock, the barge shed, access roads, pipelines, related equipment, electrical lines/poles and other supporting equipment.

Amid speculation about what might be happening at the site, a spokesman from the West Virginia Department of Commerce said they had no information and referred any questions to Braskem America.

Torpey said they have no plans for the property at this time when asked if they were planning to develop something there or if another company might be.

“Braskem has no intentions to develop the land and cannot comment on other companies,” she wrote in an email response.

Brett Dunlap can be reached at bdunlap@newsandsentinel.com.