Port of Stockton

From Global Energy Monitor

Port of Stockton is a deepwater port in Stockton, California, United States.

The port is governed by a commission appointed by the City of Stockton and San Joaquin County.

The port has a coal terminal operated by Metropolitan Stevedore Company (Metro Ports). Along with the Levin-Richmond Terminal and the Port of Long Beach, it is one of only three currently operating coal terminals on the US West Coast.[1]

Location

The port is located on the San Joaquin River before it joins the Sacramento River to empty into Suisun Bay. The port sits on about 4,200 acres, and occupies an island in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta.

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Coal

The Port exported its first cargo of bulk coal in 1981, and exported below 100,000 short tons of coal annually until 2012, when rail provider Union Pacific and Metro Ports completed a US$1.2 million rail line expansion into the port, effectively doubling the coal and iron ore capacity from 3 to 6 trains a week.[2][3]

In March 2013, Bowie Resources, operator of the Bowie No 2 Mine in Colorado, secured an agreement with the port of Stockton to ship up to 1 million short tons per year (approximately 0.91 million metric tonnes).[2][4]

In May 2013, the port laid out plans to expand bulk commodity shipments at the port to 3 million short per year.[2] As of 2019, total coal capacity at the Port of Stockton was estimated at 2 million tonnes per year (approximately 1.81 million metric tonnes).[5]

In June 2013 Arch Coal sold its Utah coal mines to Bowie Resources. Bowie said it had agreed to ship 2.1 million short tons of coal through the port of Stockton.[6]

The port shipped 1.7 million short tons of coal in 2014.[7] Coal is exported from the port to Mexico, China, Chile, Guatemala and Hawaii.[8]

More recently, the Port of Stockton has been a crucial link on the logistical chain for coal mined in Utah and exported to Japan. Coal barges are loaded to two-thirds capacity at the Port of Stockton. Then, they are "topped off" at the deeper waters of the Levin-Richmond Terminal in the Bay Area before being shipped overseas.[9][10]

In 2020, the port handled just over 1 million short tons of coal, down from about 1.6 million short tons handled in 2018 and 2019. Coal makes up approximately 15% of the total cargo handled at the port of Stockton.[11]

In 2020, the Richmond City Council voted to phase out coal processing at the Levin-Richmond Terminal by 2023. Several lawsuits were filed against the city in response.[10] If the ordinance is upheld, the Port of Stockton would be the only remaining US linkage between Utah coal and the Pacific export market.

Opposition

In June 2015 the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in San Joaquin County Superior Court requesting that the Port of Stockton’s planned US$7.4 million rail project be halted until the agency conducts a full environmental review of its potential impacts. The project would boost rail capacity to the port from six to to 12 bulk unit trains per week. In approving the project, commission members concluded it was exempt from California Environmental Quality Act provisions calling for an extensive review to identify environmental impacts of major construction projects. The state’s environmental rules do provide exemptions for repair or maintenance of existing facilities, but the Sierra Club argues the project is not a repair but an expansion that would increase the port's handling of coal, increasing health effects from coal dust.[12]

Coal plant

The port is the site of the Port of Stockton District Energy Facility, owned and operated by FPL Energy Operating Services Inc. in Stockton, California.

Project Details

  • Owner: Metropolitan Stevedore Company (Metro Ports)
  • Location: Stockton, California
  • Capacity (Million metric tonnes per annum): 1.81[5]
  • Status: Operating
  • Start year: 1981
  • Type: Exports
  • Coal Source: Colorado, Utah
  • Cost of expansion:
  • Financing for expansion:

Articles and Resources

References

  1. Eric Watkins, California move to ban coal exports from Bay Area terminals, Lloyd's List Intelligence, Jan. 3, 2019
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Application of Port of Stockton, San Joaquin County, CA, West Complex Dredging Docks 16-20, Section 404 Clean Water Act and Section 10 Rivers and Harbors Act," US Army Corps of Engineers No: SPK-2008-00171, Sep 23, 2013
  3. "Port of Stockton," Union Pacific, accessed May 2015
  4. "Port of Stockton," Energy and Infrastructure, accessed May 2015
  5. 5.0 5.1 Estimated U.S. Coal Port Capacity (mst) - 2019 Update, US Coal Exports, 2019, Accessed Sep. 2021
  6. "Coal trains coming to California," Daily Kos, June 19, 2013
  7. "Port of Stockton sets record for shipping in 2014," Record Net, Dec 31, 2014
  8. Annual Report 2014, Port of Stockton, 2014
  9. Brian Maffly, Big setback for Utah mines as Bay Area port city bans coal, The Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 15, 2020
  10. 10.0 10.1 Brian Maffly, Utah is suing a California city over its coal ban, The Salt Lake Tribune, Jan. 11, 2021
  11. Annual Report 2020, Port of Stockton, 2020
  12. "Sierra Club would block Port of Stockton rail expansion," Record Net, June 23, 2015

Related GEM.wiki articles

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Wikipedia also has an article on Port of Stockton. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.