Port of Woodland officials are asking the Army Corps of Engineers to continue sending them sediment dredged from the Columbia River to sell — but not to lock them into a 20-year commitment at the port’s Austin Point site.
While the port has no immediate plans for the location just north of the mouth of the Lewis River, officials hope to develop it into something that offers the area more. That could take the form of a deep-water berth, an industrial site or a recreation area, District 2 Port Commissioner Robert Wile said.
“Eventually, something will develop down there,” he said, “but you don’t want your hands tied. I don’t think that’s smart business.”
Austin Point is currently a park and dredge disposal site for sediment — like sand, silt and soil — removed from the river to maintain the deep-water shipping channel. While the port isn’t paid for providing the site, staff can sell the material, which can be used in construction.
Wile said if the port received a guarantee of 100,000 or 200,000 yards of material from the Corps each year, then it might be more interested in a longer lease.
The exchange over the future of the site started with a Corps letter asking to lock the port into a 20-year agreement, Wile said. The port then sent a letter to the Corps earlier this month asking the term be shortened to five years, or even 10.
The Corps has not responded to the port’s request, Wile said. John Morgan, a regional Corps’ spokesperson, said the port submitted the comment letter during its public review of its draft Columbia River dredge material plan. That letter, public comments and the Corps’ response will be published in the fall, he added.
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