Houston Bulk Terminal

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The Houston Bulk Terminal, also known as the Penn City Bulk Terminal, is a coal terminal owned by the Port of Houston and operated by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners in Houston, Texas.

The terminal has an annual capacity of 5.25 million short tons (approximately 4.76 million metric tonnes) and handles both coal and petcoke. It is served by Union Pacific and BNSF. The terminal exported 1.5 million short tons in 2012.

Location

The terminal is located at the Port of Houston near the Gulf of Mexico in Houston, Texas.

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Expansion for coal

In 2011, pipeline transportation and energy storage company Kinder Morgan Energy Partners announced it had entered into an agreement with Peabody Energy to handle up to 2 million tonnes of Colorado coal annually at its Houston Bulk Terminal located on the Houston Ship Channel. To accommodate the additional tonnage, KMP will invest approximately $18 million to expand the facility. Unit trains of Union Pacific will transport bituminous coal from Colorado mines to the Houston bulk facility where the cargo will be offloaded and stored before being loaded onto ocean vessels, marking the first time that western coal will be exported from the Port of Houston.

Peabody expected to begin shipping Colorado and Powder River Basin coal through the Houston terminal in 2014.

It is difficult to discern the exact timing and capacity increase of the coal terminal expansion based on available sources. However, by November 2015, the Kinder Morgan website stated that the Houston Bulk Terminal had a total capacity of 5.25 million short tons per year.

Sightline Institute reports

An April 2012 report by the environmental think tank Sightline Institute, "The Facts about Kinder Morgan," , lists a series of legal violations and pollution incidents at various Kinder Morgan terminals. The report includes the following:

• "In Louisiana, Kinder Morgan’s coal export facilities are so dirty that satellite photos clearly show coal dust pollution spewing into the Mississippi River."
• "In South Carolina, coal dust from Kinder Morgan’s terminal contaminates oysters, pilings, and boats. Locals have even caught the company on video washing coal directly into sensitive waterways."
• "In Virginia, Kinder Morgan’s coal export terminal is an open sore on the neighborhood, coating nearby homes in dust so frequently that even the mayor is speaking out about the problem."
• "In Portland, Kinder Morgan officials bribed a ship captain to illegally dump contaminated material at sea, and their operations have repeatedly polluted the Willamette River."
• "Kinder Morgan has been fined by the US government for stealing coal from customer’s stockpiles, lying to air pollution regulators, illegally mixing hazardous waste into gasoline, and many other crimes."
• "Kinder Morgan’s pipelines are plagued by leaks and explosions, including two large dangerous spills in residential neighborhoods in British Columbia."

Project Details

• Operator: Kinder Morgan Energy Partners
• Owner: Port of Houston
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Capacity (Million metric tonnes per annum): 4.76
• Status: Operating
• Type: Exports

Articles and resources

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