New Marine Terminal

Terminal 5 Brings New Jobs, Business and Rail to the Port of Vancouver

The Port of Vancouver will create up to 1,000 new jobs and improved rail service at its newly purchased shipping terminal and industrial area, located just north of existing port facilities along the Columbia River.

The new Terminal 5 will be put to immediate use to construct improved rail service and accommodate a surge in wind energy and other cargos, while preparing for more development of the marine terminal in the near future.

Port Purchases Former Alcoa/Evergreen Aluminum Property
In January of 2009  the Port of Vancouver closed on the purchase of property formerly owned by Evergreen Aluminum LLC. The port cloded on the former Alcoa property, an adjoining and related property in March of 2009, to complete the purchase of approximately 218 acres of heavy industrially zoned property.

 Clean Up Complete
Both Evergreen and Alcoa have completed their cleanup of contamination from former use, and have received approval from the Washington State Department of Ecology for the land to be redeveloped to industrial use standards. The properties have environmental safeguards; including monitoring by the port, to prevent exposing contaminated materials, and maintaining a safe environment in the future. To the right is a work in progress that shows initial phases of development.

New Rail Capacity
Terminal 5 property will enable the port to construct a critical section of the West Vancouver Rail Access project, creating access to 110-plus rail car “unit” trains, called unit trains. The nation’s two biggest rail companies – BNSF Railway Company and Union Pacific – will have access, affording the port’s customers competitive service to the national railway network.

The capacity created by the new unit train facilities will immediately help significantly reduce congestion in the BNSF Vancouver Rail Yard. This section of the West Coast rail network affects rail freight flows from as far away as Houston and Chicago.

Job Creation and Re-Development
The Alcoa/Evergreen properties historically housed aluminum manufacturing operations and provided industrial jobs to the Southwest Washington community for many years. Upon full buildout, T-5 is expected to generate as many as 1,000 full time marine and industrial jobs.

Temporary jobs will be created immediately to construct rail and maritime cargo space on the property. Rail construction will generate approximately 250 direct jobs in 2009 alone.  Terminal 5 will be put to immediate use for wind energy and automobile imports. More maritime and industrial development is expected to occur within the near future.

 Terminal 5 Goes to Work