City draws road map for new marine terminal

The Portland City Council on July 29 passed a resolution authorizing staff to develop a legislative proposal for annexation of West Hayden Island, to protect at least 500 acres as open space and to identify no more than 300 acres for future deep water marine terminal development.

The council voted 4-0, with Commissioner Randy Leonard absent.

Union members turned out in droves in support of the resolution, saying it was a jobs issue. Workers donning “Jobs” stickers filled a good portion of the council chambers, plus half the balcony seats. The Port of Portland estimated that some 1,200 family-wage jobs would be created if a marine terminal were to be built.

“The kind of jobs that are associated with maritime development are high wage blue collar jobs,” said port director Bill Wyatt.

The Port of Portland purchased the 814-acre island in 1994 with the intention of building a large cargo facility. The island was brought into the Metro urban growth boundary in 1983 specifically for that purpose.

Jeff Smith, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 8, told delegates at a July 26 meeting of the Northwest Oregon Labor Council that West Hayden Island is the only piece of land within the urban growth boundary that provides access to two railroad mainlines, interstate highway trucking corridors and a deep-water port facility located on a newly deepened international shipping channel.

“The channel deepening was a 10-year, nearly $200 million federal, state and local investment in our maritime-trade future,” he said.

A community work group formed by Mayor Sam Adams more than 18 months ago was charged with advising the City Council on whether a mix of uses was possible on the island. The group was not able to reach a consensus. Eight members of the 15-member panel felt it was doable, while six members said it was not possible. Eleven votes (75 percent) were needed for the proposal to be forwarded to the City Council as a recommendation.

Bruce Holte, a former president of ILWU Local 8 and a member of the community work group, told City commissioners the committee spent more than a year and a half reviewing various impact studies.

“It was clear from the discussions around the table, that many of the members had strongly held views that were not going to be influenced by the information,” said Holte, who also serves as a commissioner on the Port of Portland. “This is why it didn’t surprise me that we spent very little time discussing how a mix use could be reconciled. I do believe that a mix of uses on Hayden Island is possible.”

Tom Chamberlain, president of the Oregon AFL-CIO, agreed.

“Jobs and the environment can co-exist,” he testified. “As much as we talk about green jobs in Oregon, we seem to focus on the green part a whole lot more than we do the jobs part.”

Chamberlain pointed out that even though the proposal is about using less than half of the available land for job creation, “this isn’t recognized by our opponents as an economic sacrifice or as a good-faith effort to balance those interests. Those of us who want to keep this land in job production have already conceded over 500 acres. Why is it so unreasonable to keep 300 acres for jobs and trade?”

Opponents of marine development argued that mixed use on the island is unattainable. They want all of West Hayden to remain wild. Environmental activists successfully blocked annexation for industrial development in 1999.

The City Council resolution calls for the annexation and development guidelines to come back to council in December 2011.

“As amended, what we are agreeing to is a road map for the second phase of analysis,” said Commissioner Nick Fish. “This vote does not call the question on whether we go forward on annexation. It does not call the question on whether we will develop any particular way. But it does say that we believe there is a basis for going forward into a second phase.”

Commissioner Dan Saltzman said the resolution, with the amendment to limit marine development to no more than 300 acres, “does strike a good balance and holds the Port’s feet to the fire to make it work as efficiently as possible.”

Although she recognized Hayden Island as a valuable economic asset, Commissioner Amanda Fritz said she was “not yet convinced that the costs of developing this site as a marine terminal outweigh its environmental, recreation, and open space values. Doing what’s right is our city’s mantra for a sustainable development, and it often costs us more than doing what is wrong. This council has demonstrated over and over that we are willing to pay to do the right thing for the Climate Action Plan and for other goals our citizens value.”

Hayden Island is located in the lower Columbia River at its confluence with the Willamette River. It is part of a regional network of natural areas that provide habitat for migrating birds and many other species. Hayden Island is bisected by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad line. Currently, the western portion of the island contains electrical power lines, transmission towers, the Columbia Wastewater Treatment Plant pump house and de-chlorination facility, and dredge spoils and storage.