Port of Tacoma settles with Weyerhauser

Port of Tacoma settles with Weyerhauser    The Port of Tacoma Commission Wednesday approved a $12.5 million settlement with forest products corporation Weyerhaeuser Co., allowing the port to move ahead with plans to widen the Blair Waterway for safe navigation of marine terminal traffic.
      Weyerhaeuser has operated a 25-acre wood chip facility, located on the Blair Waterway, since 1973 and owns facility improvements, but leases the land from the port. The existing lease expires in 2017.
   The settlement is compensation for the value of Weyerhaeuser’s leasehold interest remaining over the 12 years on the lease. Weyerhaeuser will vacate the facility by May 31, 2006. The Wood Chip Facility is located on a narrow portion of the waterway, which the port, to improve navigational safety, will begin widening in July 2006.