Published 2:30 pm Monday, October 21, 2024
The Oregon International Port of Coos Bay received a $25 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant to upgrade its import and export capabilities, which supporters say should boost agriculture and other industries.
Turning the facility into a West Coast shipping giant with a rail-served, deep water port also will address bottlenecks in the national supply chain.
Land Board approves ‘precedent setting’ plan to put Elliott State Forest in a carbon market
With only 1 bidder, Oregon offshore wind lease sale canceled
Citing uncertainties, Oregon lawmakers delay $5 million for container terminal
The Coquille: Logging ancestral lands on the Oregon Coast
Developer says Port of Coos Bay expansion a matter of when, not if
GAME CHANGER: Coos Bay port strives to become international shipping giant
Overall, the project is estimated to cost $2.3 billion.
Agricultural producers across the U.S. would have another outlet to Asia, said Caddy McKeown, community relations director for NorthPoint Development, the developer-investor pushing the project forward.
“Anything that goes into a container can go across the dock once this gets built,” said McKeown, a former Oregon state representative.
The project has widespread support from agricultural sectors including Oregon wine and grass seed, California tree nuts and Midwest soybean farmers, McKeown added.
“If everything goes smoothly and permitting and design work goes forward, it’s about a five-year construction phase,” she said. Ships could probably berth at the facility in six to seven years.
“That’s a lot of time for ag producers to think about how the supply chain could change. … When you add a new port, which hasn’t been done in decades in this country, people have to think differently,” McKeown said.
A major port closer to Southern Oregon and Northern California should reduce transportation expenses for ag operations, said Austin McClister, Oregon Farm Bureau director of communications.
“Increased capacity to export is going to play on the markets in a way that is only going to help our producers,” he added.
Such victories have seemed rare for agriculture.
With rising labor and input costs, low commodity prices and new regulations, “We have a particularly bleak outlook for Oregon farmers and producers,” McClister said.
The award was announced Oct. 16 and funds will go toward environmental review, permitting and preliminary engineering and design for the intermodal terminal of the port, including the rail yard, container yard, wharf and berths.
The Port of Coos Bay could become the first ship-to-rail port on the West Coast and the facility won’t need to rely on trucks to move cargo.
The project, which would include cold storage for refrigerated containers, is anticipated to use renewable energy sources to provide green electricity. That will allow for the use of electric-powered cargo handling equipment, vehicle charging and onshore power.
Rail lines also will need improvements for double stacked trains to travel to the port and the Coos Bay channel must be deepened and widened to accommodate massive ships.
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement that the development could ease highway congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
U.S. Rep. Val Hoyle said in a news release that the project could bring more than 8,000 jobs to southwest Oregon communities.
McKeown, a fourth generation Coos Bay resident, said the community lost its economic vitality with the timber industry downturn.
“It will create a lot of jobs in my community that are good family jobs that we haven’t had in a very long time,” she said.
“This is the opportunity of a generation for us,” McKeown added.
