RICHARDTON, N.D. -- A $50 million rail terminal has been proposed for about a half-mile east of Richardton in southeast North Dakota.
The Stark County zoning board is expected to take up the first step for the project, a rezoning request to make nearly 300 acres of agricultural land into industrial, at its meeting next week.
Grand Forks-based SBG Energy Services applied for the rezoning. In the application, the company states the terminal would "facilitate a regional demand for efficient and much needed rail transloading services" for the agricultural, oil and gas and other business sectors.
The application emphasizes the support the facility would provide to agriculture, including cheap imports of agricultural products, well-paying jobs and providing "critical mass" to justify BNSF Railway upgrading its southern mainline.
The total project would be about 458 acres.
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Company representatives could not be reached for comment.
For oil and gas, it would give the industry a facility to bring in the products it needs.
BNSF spokeswoman Amy McBeth said in an email that the railroad has had initial discussions with a customer about a railport near Richardton.
The zoning board meeting will be held at 3 p.m., May 1, at the Stark County Courthouse and will include a public hearing on the rezoning request.
Stark County commissioners gave final rezoning approval for a rail terminal five miles west of South Heart in December.
In that case, zoning board member and commissioner Jay Elkin said the commission wanted BNSF to explain how it was working to improve services before adding another terminal.
He said he'll have similar questions with this application.
"Right now, I guess I just want to hear what they have to say, let them present their proposal and we'll take it from there," Elkin said.
