Port Projects Are Crucial

A pair of port projects here in the state have the potential of helping move a lot of ag products for not only producers in the state but in Wyoming and Montana. The Millennium Bulk Terminals and the Gateway Pacific Terminal projects are being stalled and Montana Sen. Duane Ankney explains what the hold up is.

ANKNEY: It's the permitting process. I mean the drafts have been submitted. With the Millenium Terminal, they didn't approve the draft in October when they said they were going to, the Washington State Permitting Agency. They've kicked that back to after the first of the year. So it's just a delay in the permitting process and then on the Gateway Pacific, I'm not going to say one over the other but that terminal is being built with ag in mind

Sen. Ankney says there is an interesting twist to the other terminal.

ANKNEY: That one, now with with the Lummi tribe intervening and wanting the Corp to do a special study, that has its own special set of circumstances. On that terminal I think there's four or five agencies involved which normally you have two. What makes it interesting is a 5% owner of that terminal will be the Crow tribe of Montana.

But Ankney says Montana and Wyoming have a lot of ag products to ship through the state.

ANKNEY: Wheat, lentils. I don't know how that would affect any shipments into Asia on any cattle or hogs. I don't know how that would affect them but I'm sure whether it's swinging meats or what it is that would affect those types of products but it will certainly affect the grain shipments, the grains that we raise here in Montana.

And that's Washington Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.