Hoquiam, a city of roughly 8,700 in western Washington state, has determined that a proposed BHP Billiton Canada potash terminal at the Port of Grays Harbor would not cause an adverse environmental impact, and scheduled a Dec. 19 public hearing to solicit comments.
Vancouver, B.C.-based BHP Billiton Canada would like to use the redeveloped industrial port to export potash from a proposed Jansen mine in Saskatchewan that would produce up to 8 million mt/y of potash.
At peak operation, the Hoquiam terminal near Bowerman Airport and the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge would receive up to 10 trains a week, each potentially hauling 20,000 tons of product that would either be stored or loaded on up to four ships per week, or 220 bulk ocean-going vessels annually, for fertilizer export. Up to 50 full-time employees would work there.
To minimize the impact of increased train volume at the port, construction would include an 8,500-foot rail loop that would tie into existing rail facilities, allowing entire trains to be confined within the project’s boundaries; a covered rail car unloading zone; a potash storage structure; upland conveyors; and a marine terminal that would include a conveyor ship loader.
Enclosed train cars loaded with potash would be taken to a covered transfer station. The potash would either be taken directly to awaiting vessels or stored. A BHP study indicated that any attributable emission increases “are sufficiently low enough to protect human health and safety from potential carcinogenic and/or other toxic effects.”
For the last year, BHP has been filing environmental impact review papers and modifying its plans after getting input from Hoquiam officials and agencies to offset potential environmental threats. It also studied the visual impacts on five properties surrounding the proposed project site. It has requested substantial shoreline development, shoreline conditional use, and zoning conditional use permits, as well as a shoreline variance from Hoquiam.
An electrical substation and water, electricity, sewer, and storm water utilities would be included in the Hoquiam project’s infrastructure. Administrative and maintenance buildings, each about 38,000 square feet, a parking lot, and a fueling station with double-walled tanks above ground also would be featured.
BHP proposes to remove existing over-water structures and pilings near a port terminal, plus more than 1,300 creosote-soaked pilings from the Chehalis River. In-water construction would include a new marine terminal and berth next to another terminal’s existing dock, and grated over-water coverage would be constructed. BHP also proposes to install a wetland and aquatic site at the mouth of the Hoquiam River, including the restoration of a 43-acre site where tide lands were previously filled.