Logistics Center Meets Opposition
By Kelly Kearsley, The News Tribune, Tacoma, Wash.
Feb. 1–Residents opposed to a plan for a Port of Tacoma and Port of Olympia rail logistics center in south Thurston County share their concerns with port commissioners. The potential for a port rail logistics center in Thurston County prompted about 250 residents — most in opposition to the project — to turn out for a Thursday night joint Port of Tacoma and Port of Olympia commission meeting at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey.
Many of the public comments and criticism were aimed at the Port of Tacoma, which in 2006 purchased 745 acres near Maytown in south Thurston County as a potential site for a logistics center. The Tacoma port then partnered with the Port of Olympia to further explore the logistics center concept.
The facility would be a rail yard for sorting and staging cargo, as well as an industrial park for businesses that use rail.
At Thursday’s meeting, consultants hired by the Port of Tacoma presented studies regarding the need for a logistics facility — called the South Sound Logistics Center — to relieve rail congestion, what it might look like and alternative locations. Both port commissions attended the meeting, and no decision was made.
“I’m unconvinced that we somehow have a moral obligation to reduce congestion for cheap goods being shipped to Chicago,” said Steve Jones, an Olympia attorney.
People commented for more than an hour, with concerns ranging from the environmental effects the logistics center would have on Thurston County to how the increased trains and trucks would affect quality of life.
Frank Byronn Glenn lives near the Port of Tacoma’s Maytown property. He wondered whether a logistics facility would ruin the natural beauty of nearby Millersylvania State Park and the rural area.
“Something about the quality of life should have as much standing as just raw commerce,” Glenn said.
The comments came after almost two hours of presentations by real estate and consultant firms, as well as information from the Washington State Department of Transportation about the need for a rail logistics center in this trade-dependent state.
Scott Witt, WSDOT’s rail and marine director, said, “It’s crucial to begin this process now so that we are prepared for the (trade) growth that sustains us.”
In addition to the Maytown site, the Port of Tacoma released a study Monday that revealed three other sites — two in Thurston County and one in Lewis County — that are candidates for the facility.
Though consultants — and, later, representatives from economic development groups — noted the economic benefit to the region in terms of jobs and revenue that a logistics center could bring, most of the audience wasn’t interested.
People held signs reading “No SSLC in Maytown” and “Save Rocky Prairie,” the name of the area around the Maytown site. Many members of Friends of Rocky Prairie, a group opposed to Maytown’s development, also attended.
A moderator asked for questions from the audience, noting that there would be more time for public comment at the next logistics center meeting on Feb. 20.
Jessi Hoffman said the evening was “typical of the whole way the Port of Tacoma has handled this thing.”
“You’re not supposed to give comments, just questions. That puts us in the role of supplicants. The power is ours, folks,” Hoffman said to a round of applause.
A few people said voters should be able to decide where and if a logistics center is located in Thurston County. And others questioned why Thurston County needed to support the growth of Pierce County’s port.
“This is my county, and I want to do what’s best for it,” said Sharron Coontz, a member of Friends of Rocky Prairie. “Please make (the logistics center) go away, because we won’t being going away.”
Kelly Kearsley: 253-597-8573
NEXT MEETING
The next joint port commission meeting will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 20 at Saint Martin’s University’s Worthington Center. For information and copies of logistics center studies, go to www.sslcports.com.
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