Washington state port's commission approves crude facility lease a second time

The Port of Vancouver USA's Board of Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a 10-year lease for the Tesoro Savage Petroleum Terminal (TSPT), a crude-oil handling facility proposed at the Washington state port.

The commission previously approved the lease on July 23, but a new vote was held on Oct. 22 because of concerns raised about procedures used during a July 22 public workshop that led to the prior vote, port officials said in a press release.

"We are confident that our use of [an] executive session was appropriate," said Todd Coleman, the port's chief executive officer.

Proposed by longtime port tenant Tesoro in partnership with logistics company Savage Cos., the $100 million TSPT is designed to handle North American crude moved by rail to the port, where it will be transferred to marine vessels for transport to various West Coast refineries. The port is served by BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad.

Tesoro and Savage will lease about 42 acres of port property for the TSPT to accommodate a rail unloading facility, storage tanks and a vessel loading area.

The project now will continue to move through the environmental permitting process. The state's Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council is the lead agency for local and state permits.