That will come too late to save a Georgia-Pacific lumber mill, the closing of which was announced earlier this month in part due to interruption of direct service. But the port says it’s working to bring a potential customer on once the bridge reopens.
The bridge has been stuck in the open position since mid-April 2018. When the mechanism failed, the bridge had to be pushed back so that marine traffic could pass. That, however, left rail customers south of the Coos Bay channel stranded. The port operates the line for another 17 miles south of Coos Bay to Coquille.
Port spokeswoman Fiona Bai said as much as $5 million will be spent to repair the 100-year-old bridge including installing jacking and shoring systems and installing an auxiliary drive motor to help turn the bridge.
With the bridge out-of-service, the port set up a transload facility less than a mile from the northern end of the span for the four rail-shipping customers cut off. Georgia-Pacific said the cost of trucking lumber to that facility, as well as timber supply problems, led to the decision to shut the mill.
The port’s latest prospect is a company that processes garnet as an abrasive for waterjet cutting and blasting.
Through March of this year, the port’s rail operations handled 1,624 carloads, down from 1,825 for the same period of 2018. For all of 2018 the rail line, which the port now manages directly rather than contracting with an outside operator, handled 6,428 cars, down from 7,173 in 2017 and 7,435 in 2016.
You hit it on the head John. Since the spotted owl issue, the greenies have been successful shutting down businesses, and the good paying jobs that go with it, indirectly by their protests.
Anna is right, without rail customers, what’s the point. I’d would first get firm commitments from businesses before spending the money. If they can fix it in 2 weeks, it can be held off until they have the commitments, not just some company thinking about it.
Well the mill is gone in any case, which means the NIMBYs won. Without traffic what good is the railroad?
The above comments are general in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. Find your own damn lawyer.
Sounds like someone ran down to Lowes and found a backup generator.
As for the plant, the state is littered with closed lumber plants, what is one more?
For years the Chinese have offered to park a complete lumber cutting and finishing mill on a ship and park it at Mile 13 offshore. Then barges would bring the raw logs out to them, they would cut and finish them and the barges bring back the finished product.
They say they can do this more effectively and cleaner and cheaper than a US based land mill.
Anna Harding…it’s only gone if Georgia-Pacific can’t find a buyer, and it’s much more likely that a local operation can run it more so than a firm like Georgia-Pacific(I believe there was already one offer, or at least the suggestion of an offer to purchase the mill).