SSGA shows support for Seattle, Tacoma port upgrades

The Specialty Soya and Grains Alliance (SSGA) submitted a letter of support to the Northwest Seaport Alliance’s (NWSA) request for funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s 2020 Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) and the 2020 Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Grants Program. The grant funds would be used to complete four major transportation infrastructure upgrades at Seattle Harbor’s Terminal 5.

The NWSA, an operating partnership between the ports of Seattle and Tacoma, recently began a multi-year effort to modernize Terminal 5, located at the southern end of Seattle Harbor. This terminal has been mostly dormant since 2014, when it was abandoned because it was unable to serve larger container vessels.

Terminal 5 upgrades will make it ready for large ships by improving rail tracks, paving to support container stacking, installing reefer plugs and completing the second phase of installing a storm water catchment and treatment system.

In its letter of support, SSGA mentions how important the Seattle and Tacoma ports are for Midwestern exports to Asian markets. These ports often have the best rail and ocean carrier service for the Midwestern region and handle a strong share of these exports. SSGA member companies work hard to reliably supply field crops to their customers. The upgrades to Terminal 5 would help do that, making the movement of goods through the Pacific Northwest safer, more efficient and more reliable.