New oil biz coming to town

Article Courtesy of Brownfield News

A new company is doing business in Brownfield and already taking measures to alleviate a problem causing some neighbors to turn up their noses.

Milestone Logistics took over operations last month of the transloading tank battery on the railroad tracks just off Main St with a different business model than the one that failed to be profitable for Mercuria, the company that built the site two years ago.

West Texas and Lubbock Railroad took ownership of the facility when Mercuria abandoned it and the railroad solicited Milestone to step in and find a viable use for the site.

Company manager Ed Palmer said he thinks the new formula for operating the tank battery will be a winner. “This is a first class facility and we plan on being here for the long term,” he told the Brownfield News. “We see tremendous value in this location and in Brownfield and we intend to stay and grow. We’re not a fly-by-night outfit by any means.”

Milestone will receive crude oil shipments from numerous sources by railcar, then trans-load off to trucks for shipment to an injection plant in Sundown.

The amount of crude the facility will handle will fluctuate dependent on pipeline capacity elsewhere, Palmer said. Milestone’s plan to diversify its sources of the commodity will allow it to better weather downturns in the market than the site’s original owner.

The Idaho-based company has a long history with rail freight and currently is setting up its offices in the building on Broadway, formerly occupied by the railroad.

Palmer said the company has four employees now, but is hiring more. At its peak potential, he said the Brownfield location could employ as many as 30 people.

“Our reception in Brownfield has been very warm. We’re here and we want to be a good neighbor.”