Washington state port schedules workshop on proposed crude oil facility

The Port of Vancouver USA plans to hold a rail operations and safety workshop tomorrow immediately after a regular board meeting.

The workshop will update port commissioners on rail operational issues, including the roles and responsibilities of various entities associated with transporting hazardous materials. Representatives from the Federal Railroad Administration and BNSF Railway Co. will be on hand to discuss the issues.

The workshop is the second in a series associated with the April 22 announcement by longtime port tenant Tesoro to construct and operate a crude oil facility at the Vancouver, Wash., port. In a joint venture with logistics company Savage, Tesoro plans to move North American crude oil to the port by rail and then transfer it to marine vessels for transport to various refineries in Alaska, California and Washington.

The port is holding the workshops to provide commissioners information as they prepare to consider a lease with the Tesoro-Savage joint venture. The proposed lease is expected to come before the port commission in July.

Held on May 14, the first workshop focused on marine safety and oil spill response capabilities. A third workshop on the permitting process associated with the proposed crude oil facility is tentatively scheduled for June 27.