Document 10m14qmOpKR6ELzkqde3Loo3d

November 12, 1946 Mr. James E. McCormack Director, Appraisal Division Office of Real Property Disposal War Assets Administration Washington 25, D. C. . Re: PAP-T7T Plancor 264 Mathieson Magnesium Plant Lake Charles, Louisiana Power Sales by Southern Alkali Corporation Dear Mr. McCormack: Reference is made to your letter of October 3 addressed to us at Corpus Christi, Texas, relative to availability of power from the magnesium plant at Lake Charles Louisiana, when the operation of the power plant is taken over by Southern Alkali We have carefully reviewed this entire situation and the best advices we can give you at this time are as follows: 1. We anticipate that we will start production of chlorine at Lake Charles in April 1947. In accordance with the terms of our lease ageeement therefore, we will expect to take over the power plant approximately March 1, or 30 days in advance of the start of pro duction. 2. Between now and March 1 therefore no change in power plant opera tion is anticipated and we assume that any Information that you desire relative to availability of power and operation from this plant will be developed between yourselves and the Mathieson Alkali Company, the present operator. 3. During the thirty day period prior to production of chlorine at Lake Charles, it will he necessary to shut the power plant down for a 10 to 15 day period in order to make certain changes and repairs. In all probability this shut down period could be either the first half or the second half of the thirty day period. 4. We expect to bring this chlorine plant to full production aa rapidly as possible. We now estimate that it will require two to three months after the start of operations to reach full produc tion. During this period, however, production increases will take place at more or lees regular intervals and power will have U_0032So~J Mr. James E. McCormack 2 - November 12, 1946 to be available to carry out such programs. We believe that under these conditions we will have about 20,000 K!W of firm sur plus power available to War Assets during the second quarter I9U7; If we reach full production in the third quarter and operate at that capacity, there will be no firm surplus power available from the first of the third quarter on. 5. In considering this matter, we have assumed our total firm power available to be 45,000 KW. Hence, it is necessary to have spare power available in operations of the type we propose to conduct. We call to your attention that there are several indeterminant factors at the present time which may change this situation. We have never operated the power plant at Lake Charles and until we do so we will not know exactly what capacity we can get out of it. Our proposed schedule to start operations may materialize sooner or later than we anticipate. If we run into unforeseen difficulties, for example, on deliveries of important equipment, we might have to delay the start of production. On the other hand, if deliveries come through on schedule we will probably start in accordance with our present plan or possibly even better the dat blightly. We will keep you advised of any changes and endeavor to give you as much notice as possible of what our plans will be. Very truly yours, JCL:g cc: Mr. H. F. Pitcairn Mr. D, R. Means Mr. S. J. Hultman J. C. Leppart Copy made in Pittsburgh for Mr. D. A. Cort ll/l8/46 j BB 00Q3252_^