Chief
04-29-2008, 05:07 AM
http://www.columbian.com/business/businessNews/2008/04/04292008_Port-tries-to-force-Alcoa-to-table.cfm
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
By JONATHAN NELSON, Columbian staff writer
The Port of Vancouver is asking a judge to force Alcoa Inc. to arbitration as the local agency tries to close on the purchase of Alcoa property in the Vancouver Lake lowlands near the Columbia River.
The $23.7 million deal was scheduled to be final March 31, but Alcoa halted the proceedings after the Washington Department of Ecology rejected a plan to clean up groundwater contamination on the property, totaling 107 acres, and recommended another solution, according to a petition the port filed Friday in Clark County Superior Court.
Todd Coleman, the port’s deputy executive director, said the changes suggested by the state could cost Alcoa tens of millions of dollars.
The port, fearful that Alcoa might try to renegotiate the sale and potentially pass on the added expenses, is enacting a clause in the contract that forces mediation.
Alcoa, in a letter sent April 10, contends the conditions required for mediation haven’t been met. A hearing is scheduled May 2.
A series of complications
The dispute is the latest complication in a land deal that was first broached in 2007 and has since taken more than one form. The port initially intended to buy the Alcoa property and *adjacent 111-acre Evergreen *Aluminum site by imposing a special port district *property tax. Voters rejected the plan, forcing the port to scale back expansion plans and turn to bonds to finance the purchase of the two *properties for $48.2 million.
At the same time, Gov. Chris Gregoire ordered the ecology department to accelerate cleanup of the Columbia River shoreline at the Alcoa site, where a high level of carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, have been found.
The port’s transactions with Alcoa and Evergreen *include provisions that force both *companies to pay for cleaning the land to industrial standards and for the ecology department to sign off on the work.
Coleman said aside from the money issue, the port is under a tight timeline to ready the Alcoa location for wind turbine shipments coming in the fall.
The former smelter site would be used to store the blades and turbines before the machines are shipped.
Jonathan Nelson covers the Port of Vancouver for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4543 or via e-mail at jonathan.nelson@columbian.com.
Not much detail about this, but then again the Port cannot comment upon pending litigation.
I am glad to see that the Port of Vancouver is ready and willing to play hardball with Alcoa about this. I think filing a lawsuit is an outstanding idea, and if it is necessary for the Court to intervene I have no doubt the Port will recover legal fees as well.
Developing....
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
By JONATHAN NELSON, Columbian staff writer
The Port of Vancouver is asking a judge to force Alcoa Inc. to arbitration as the local agency tries to close on the purchase of Alcoa property in the Vancouver Lake lowlands near the Columbia River.
The $23.7 million deal was scheduled to be final March 31, but Alcoa halted the proceedings after the Washington Department of Ecology rejected a plan to clean up groundwater contamination on the property, totaling 107 acres, and recommended another solution, according to a petition the port filed Friday in Clark County Superior Court.
Todd Coleman, the port’s deputy executive director, said the changes suggested by the state could cost Alcoa tens of millions of dollars.
The port, fearful that Alcoa might try to renegotiate the sale and potentially pass on the added expenses, is enacting a clause in the contract that forces mediation.
Alcoa, in a letter sent April 10, contends the conditions required for mediation haven’t been met. A hearing is scheduled May 2.
A series of complications
The dispute is the latest complication in a land deal that was first broached in 2007 and has since taken more than one form. The port initially intended to buy the Alcoa property and *adjacent 111-acre Evergreen *Aluminum site by imposing a special port district *property tax. Voters rejected the plan, forcing the port to scale back expansion plans and turn to bonds to finance the purchase of the two *properties for $48.2 million.
At the same time, Gov. Chris Gregoire ordered the ecology department to accelerate cleanup of the Columbia River shoreline at the Alcoa site, where a high level of carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, have been found.
The port’s transactions with Alcoa and Evergreen *include provisions that force both *companies to pay for cleaning the land to industrial standards and for the ecology department to sign off on the work.
Coleman said aside from the money issue, the port is under a tight timeline to ready the Alcoa location for wind turbine shipments coming in the fall.
The former smelter site would be used to store the blades and turbines before the machines are shipped.
Jonathan Nelson covers the Port of Vancouver for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4543 or via e-mail at jonathan.nelson@columbian.com.
Not much detail about this, but then again the Port cannot comment upon pending litigation.
I am glad to see that the Port of Vancouver is ready and willing to play hardball with Alcoa about this. I think filing a lawsuit is an outstanding idea, and if it is necessary for the Court to intervene I have no doubt the Port will recover legal fees as well.
Developing....