NATCHEZ — Adams County supervisors approved Thursday reducing obligations for approximately $1.4 million of a loan made for the now defunct Elevance Renewable Sciences development project.

Approximately $728,000 of a $2.15 million, Mississippi Development Authority loan was spent making improvements to the railway going into the biorefinery facility located within the Natchez-Adams County Port.

Board of Supervisors President Mike Lazarus said since the county was not planning to use the funds left over, MDA wanted the money relinquished from use on the project so the approximately $1.4 million could be obligated to another project in the state.

Lazarus said the funds were specific to work for Elevance, so with the Elevance project off the table, the funds could not be utilized anyway.

Natchez Inc., Executive Director Chandler Russ said Natchez Inc. would seek the $728,000 for repayment of the loan from Elevance.

Russ said he anticipates Elevance will repay the funds, but should the company fail to do so, Natchez Inc. would consider bringing together all parties involved, including the Mississippi Development Authority, for a possible legal action against Elevance.

Russ said he did not anticipate the county would be liable for paying back the $728,000.

In 2015, Elevance sold the biorefinery to World Energy for an undisclosed price.

Russ said the amount of rail traffic Elevance projected to use has remained consistent with World Energy.

“I think things are going well at (World Energy) — from the production line, they seem to be wide open in production and continue to make their modifications and upgrades,” Russ said. “It looks like things are continuing to go well out there.”

Elevance purchased the facility in June 2011 from Delta Biofuels and planned to invest $225 million into the plant.

Company representatives said production issues with their initial plant in Indonesia stymied their Natchez project. Plummeting petroleum prices also made their products more expensive than the petroleum products they aimed to replace, insiders have said.