Vancouver port purchases 107-acre parcel for rail yard

Vancouver port purchases 107-acre parcel for rail yard The Port of Vancouver Commission Tuesday unanimously approved an agreement to purchase the 107-acre industrial, waterfront property owned by New York-based Alcoa Inc. for just under $24 million.
   Officials of the Washington state port and aluminum-producing giant Alcoa reached a general agreement on the purchase and sale in January. The parties signed a letter of intent Feb. 1 and negotiations since led to Tuesday's final agreement. The agreement calls for the transaction to close in the first half of 2008.
   In addition to the property, the deal also transfers ownership to the port of Alcoa's alumina unloading dock, silos, conveyors, rail load out and accessory structures and equipment for the operation of the unloading facility.
   The agreement calls for the site to be cleaned by Alcoa to Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) industrial standards — enforced by the Washington State Department of Ecology.
   Following the final passage of an Industrial Development District levy for the property, the property will transfer and the port will begin construction of the West Vancouver Freight Access Project. The project will create a unit train facility at the port, increasing capacity for rail freight flowing through the port and along the BNSF Railway mainlines that connect the Pacific Northwest to major rail hubs in Chicago and Houston and from Canada to Mexico.
   Estimates predict the completed project will create 1,900 local jobs, $64 million in direct income annually and about $24 million in tax revenue annually for the community.