Washington: Weyco finally takes over in Olympia
OLYMPIA – The large presence of a 580-foot ship at the Port of Olympia
marks the end of more than three years of legal delays to
Weyerhaeuser’s plan to move export operations here. Logs were being
loaded this week onto the ship, which docked at the port Sunday
evening and will depart for Japan this weekend, marine terminal
director Jim Amador said. Environmental consultant Christopher Mendoza
of Olympia has not filed lawsuits against the port but says he’s
concerned about increased truck traffic downtown. He also said he
doesn’t think the marine terminal is economically viable in the long
term because it always will be competing for business with larger
ports.
“It doesn’t make economic, community and environmental sense,”
he said. “The port is putting Weyerhaeuser’s interests ahead of the
community’s interests.” The ship, called the Lavieen Rose, is operated
by Mitsui OSK lines of Japan, Amador said. Another ship is expected to
arrive in February, Amador said. Next year, 49 vessels are expected to
visit the port, including 37 Weyerhaeuser-related ships and barges, he
said. “It’s part of what we can expect going forward,” Port of Olympia
Executive Director Ed Galligan said about the log shipment. Amador
called it a good way to start the new year. In 2008, three ships
visited the Port of Olympia, down from 13 in 2007, he said. Marine
terminal revenue generated by this week’s ship visit and next year’s
projections was not immediately available. In August 2005, the port
and Weyerhaeuser announced a five-year lease agreement to export logs
through the port and on to Japan, generating $1.5 million in annual
revenue. The lease was supposed to take effect in spring 2006 but was
delayed by challenges to the port’s log-export environmental-review
process. In October, trucks began daily Weyerhaeuser log deliveries to
the port. That’s expected to increase from 30 to 40 trucks a day to
between 80 and 100 next year as the company finishes moving its
log-export business from the Port of Tacoma to Olympia, Weyerhaeuser
spokesman Anthony Chavez has said. The trucks generally exit
Interstate 5 and use Plum Street.
http://www.theolympian.com/business/story/712684.html
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