To make money available for Nucor, state pares projects from construction budget
by Cathy Hughes - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

The State Bond Commission approved low-cost bonds Thursday to support industrial expansions in the River Parishes and removed $22 million worth of projects from the state's construction budget to make way for an incentive package for a Nucor Corp. iron plant near Convent. Among the New Orleans area projects put on the back burner were a proposed food co-op on St. Claude Avenue, an Audubon Zoo exhibit, a City Park splash park and drainage improvements. Valero Energy Corp. got final permission to issue up to $300 million in low-interest Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds to support the construction of a hydrocracker unit and other improvements at its St. Charles Parish refinery. Nucor Steel Louisiana, a division of the Charlotte, N.C., steel giant, received approval to issue up to $600 million in GO Zone bonds, which were authorized by Congress after Hurricane Katrina to assist business recovery in the storm-affected region.