Financial incentives to entice ExxonMobil to build its $10 billion steam cracker plant in Portland will be decided on by the San Patricio County commissioners Monday, March 20. The item is on the agenda for the commissioners court’s 9 a.m. meeting, which will include a hearing on the issue as well. 
The company submitted an application for a tax abatement to the commissioners in 2016. It also applied for a tax limitation from the Gregory-Portland Independent School District. The school board is scheduled to hold a hearing on the issue March 21, the day after the commissioners meeting. The agenda includes an option to take a vote on the matter.  
Meanwhile, ExxonMobil officials say they will announce at the end of March which of four sites under consideration will become home to the world’s largest steam cracker plant. A site in Portland is one of the four being considered for the plant. Other sites include Victoria and two locations in Louisiana.
In partnership with Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corp., or SABIC,  ExxonMobil says the plant should generate $22 billion in state economic gains during the construction phase and $50 billion in state economic gains during its first six years of operations. It is expected to create more than 600 new permanent jobs that pay an average of $90,000 a year. A five-year buildout would also create 11,000 construction jobs. 
Protestors have followed industry officials as they made the rounds of Coastal Bend government agencies, including Corpus Christi City Council, Nueces County commissioners and the Portland-Gregory school board. Calling themselves Portland Citizens United, the group does not think the plant would be a good addition to the neighborhood, mostly because of its proximity to Gregory-Portland High School. The plant would be less than two miles from the school on 1,300 acres along U.S. 181 and FM 2986.
“They’ve made it obvious money is all they care about,” said group leader Adair Apple at a recent Gregory-Portland school board meeting. “The location may meet their criteria, but it does not meet our criteria.”
Speaking on behalf of ExxonMobil, Robert Tully, an executive with the venture project, countered that similar plants have been good neighbors in other communities.
“We operate these plants day in and day out across the Gulf Coast safely,” he told the school board.
The ethylene created at the plant would be used to feed three derivative units producing monoethylene glycol and polyethylene. Monoethylene glycol is used in latex paints and automotive coolants and antifreeze. It is a building block used to create various forms of plastic. Polyethylene is used for film, packaging, bottles, pipes and containers. 
The Portland City Council joined Portland Citizens United in opposing the plant. The council approved a resolution at a December meeting asking ExxonMobil to take the area off the list of possible sites. 
Despite the opposition, the company seems to have its sights set on the Coastal Bend. 
“San Patricio County is the preferred site,” a SABIC spokesperson told the Houston Chronicle in January. “The project is advancing study of the San Patricio site.”
During its rounds Jan. 17, ExxonMobil did get one vote of support. The Corpus Christi City Council adopted a resolution supporting the company’s proposal. The city would provide the industrial water for the site, while nearby towns would provide the drinking water.
Monday’s meeting of the San Patricio County commissioners could provide the final push to bring the plant to the Coastal Bend, many believe. It is expected to be a packed meeting with people on both sides of the issue speaking out before the vote.