Port holds $200M T4 Terminal expansion show and tell

On Monday, the Port of Grays Harbor hosted more than 130 guests for a T4 Project “Show and Tell” event that included bus and tugboat tours of the construction efforts.

Attendees included Port employees, local business and civic leaders, and elected officials including state representatives Joel McEntire (R, 19th District) and Adam Bernbaum (D, 24th District), Grays Harbor County District 1 Commissioner Georgia Miller, Aberdeen City Councilor Liz Ellis and Ocean Shores Mayor Frank Elduen.

After opening remarks from Port Commissioner Phil Papac, Executive Director Leonard Barnes and AGP Vice President Ag Products Craig Pietig, the Port’s Director of Government and Public Affairs Kayla Dunlap guided the guests to a fleet of buses and kicked off the five-stop tour.

“What you will see on the tour will speak louder than anything I can tell you,” Barnes said.

Barnes explained that AGP has invested $200 million in the Terminal 4 expansion, the largest such project in the history of the Port of Grays Harbor, which opened in 1911. He expects the completed project to double the Port’s cargo export volume.

The first stop on the tour was along the dock as Quigg Bros. is in the process of transforming the wharf with a new mariner fendering system that will include the removal of 24 timber piles and the installation of 28 new fender panels. A stormwater collection system and a $3 million treatment plant are also planned. Two of three towers for the new ship loaders are under construction.

The expanded terminal facility anticipates 60 vessels per year to load up with AGP’s soy meal product and head to ports in southeast Asia.

Stops two and three highlighted the unloading of railcars and the increased speed and efficiency the Port will be able to move AGP’s product out and automobiles in with the anticipated arrival of 750 trains per year along nine miles of new track. The Port will be able to set up a 110-car train in three-and-a-half hours.

Stop four was Port Transit Shed 3 where the arms for the new shiploaders, 180-foot boom sections, are being assembled. The fifth and final stop was what will eventually become a service cargo yard. Part of that yard used to be a Washington Department of Transportation casting area used to make pontoons for floating bridges.

According to Barnes, the show and tell event was intended to demonstrate that the proof is in the pudding with the Port’s partnership with AGP.

“We wanted to show our facilities, the public infrastructure that the citizens of Grays Harbor County own, we wanted to show them the job creation, the amount of economic development that’s happening with a private/public partnership,” Barnes said. “You’re only as good as the moment, but everything right now is going well for AGP and our partners in the Port of Grays Harbor. (Weather has) put us ahead. The Port has never been one that will talk a lot, we’re more action focused, we wanted to show that the things we’ve been talking about the last three-four years, they’re happening.”

Barnes added there are approximately 220 people currently employed as part of the project. He said that 80 or more family wage jobs will be added to the Port of Grays Harbor’s operations when the T4 expansion is complete.

“Those jobs will all be union paying jobs, family supporting type jobs, ILW longshoremen. There will be Port workers like myself, maintenance workers, it’s a combination of what happens in the dock, what happens in the structure, and what’s happening to maintain,” Barnes said. “We’re all prevailing wage, but more importantly it’s the benefit package.”

Rep. Bernbaum said the Port of Grays Harbor and its partnership with AGP stands up as an example of what can be done despite the challenges.

“It’s profoundly exciting. I think there is a tremendous opportunity for economic growth. This is going to sound hammy, but it’s a nice testament to what happens when the public sector and the private sector are really working together. There’s a lot of people that are exemplifying what community leadership looks like over a long period of time,” Bernbaum said. “I don’t think it’s a secret to anyone that we need a lot of economic development in Grays Harbor County. I’m just really excited to get to see this project come together. It is very tough to get strong economic growth across rural Washington. The Port of Grays Harbor is blazing a trail that others can follow.”

After the bus tour, a reception was held at the city of Hoquiam’s Levee Street Boat Launch. Guests were afforded the opportunity to take a tugboat tour, courtesy of Brusco Tug & Barge, of the Port, specifically the T4 expansion construction site.

AGP announced the approval of the investment in the project in March of 2022 with groundbreaking taking place in November 2024. According to the Port, the grand opening and ribbon cutting is scheduled for Aug. 3, 2026.

“We’ll be operational, rolling full bore,” Barnes said.

AGP’s official website states, “AGP is a leading U.S. agribusiness with primary operations as a soybean processor/refiner producing and marketing soybean meal, refined soybean oil, and biodiesel. Since its formation in 1983, AGP has grown in size, scope, and reputation — both in the U.S. and internationally. Today, our owners include local and regional cooperatives representing approximately 200,000 farmers throughout the U.S. We operate 11 soybean processing plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota, as well as five soybean oil refineries, and three biodiesel production facilities.”