Why Brownsville is laying the foundation for a new industrial park

As Eleazar Rodriguez drove a black SUV along a highway that intersects with the TX-550 toll road, he gestured out the window towards a sweeping 18-acre industrial site punctuated by a large white tower with a blue emblem. 

“Through the tower, they will capture all of the carbon dioxide from the air and separate the gases,” said Rodriguez, Director of Industrial and Project Development for the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation. 

Rodriguez found an access road that led to a bridge with a better view of the massive project along Paredes Line Road inside the North Brownsville Industrial Park, estimated by officials to be worth $100 million. 

That tower is known as an air separation unit, which is operated by Linde, a chemical manufacturer based in the United Kingdom that produces industrial gases for customers in space exploration, petrochemical companies, and other industries.