MLPX Siloam Facility Is All About
Serving the Community
By Sherri Timberlake Love
For The Ashland Beacon

Siloam Plant Hosts Open House for the Community
The Siloam plant in South Shore, part of Marathon Petroleum’s midstream segment, MPLX, recently held an open house event for employees, family members and the community. Operations Manager Bret Evans organized the event to help the public better understand what the facility does and highlight the plant’s involvement in the community.
Evans came to his current role in April after serving as operations supervisor for two MPLX cryogenic facilities in West Virginia. He provided a presentation for attendees of the open house, explaining that the plant is a fractionation facility, which means it separates hydrocarbon streams from natural gas liquids that are supplied by other facilities and customers.
“We refine those hydrocarbons into pure components, such as propane, butanes and natural gas that we then market,” said Evans. “The leading product for the plant is propane, and a lot of local residents get propane to heat their homes in the winter from Jewell Gas or Cox Bottled Gas. What they may not realize is that this propane came from right here at this plant in South Shore.”
Providing An Inside Look
The open house also included tours of the plant to provide a look at the caverns, rail yard and process areas. Siloam also has truck, rail and barge loading stations. The facility, which Marathon Petroleum purchased in 2008 and became part of MPLX in 2016, began operating in 1958 as Columbia Gas.
“Growing up here as a kid, it was such a big plant, and the way it was lit up at night was neat. We always wondered what they did here,” said Greenup County District 2 Commissioner Lee Wireman who attended the open house.
The presentation by Evans also highlighted the facility’s emphasis on operating responsibly. “It’s important to stress that we focus on being safe, compliant, reliable and also being prepared,” Evans said. “Our company has strong core values and guiding principles that build the foundation of our business.”
As a reflection of its commitment to environmental stewardship, MPLX has set a goal for its natural gas gathering and processing operations as a whole to achieve a 75% reduction in methane emissions intensity by 2030 from 2016 levels.

Giving Back to the Local Area
The open house also provided information about the Siloam plant’s community investment. “My family and I live in Garrison, so this area is home to me,” said Evans. “I understand the importance of being able to give back to the community and support many local charitable organizations such as the City Mission and Meals on Wheels.”
Another example of the plant’s assistance in the area came recently when it provided funding to help the Greenup County Emergency Response Team buy an all-terrain, side-by-side vehicle. “We had a real need for a vehicle like this because of the number of times we have to get emergency responders into confined crowded areas at events, or when there are accidents in areas that an ambulance can’t access,” Greenup County Judge Executive Bobby Hall said.
Shortly after the purchase, the vehicle made it possible for the county to restore communications for local emergency responders when a storm blew the roof off the transmitter building. This building is at the top of a very steep hill, and the side-by-side vehicle allowed a team to reach the top to get communications restored.
“If we didn’t have it, we would’ve been delayed most of the day because we would have had to go borrow one or find a bulldozer to pull an AEP truck up there to get it fixed,” said Hall. “Community partners working together is amazing. MPLX is a great partner, great for our community and we want to be great for them.”
Evans pledged to continue the plant’s collaboration with local stakeholders. “We plan to stay active in community events and sponsorships,” he said. “We have a beautiful piece of property here, with great people, and great opportunities to make a positive impact.”
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