Potential for 175 new jobs in recycling

Jorge Gomez of Royal moves loaded or empty shipping containers at the depot Bartleson Transport, Inc. has launched at a Port of Royal Slope property in Hiawatha Industrial Park. The full ones contain Idaho farm commodities destined for the seaports on Puget Sound. Gomez said the operation fired up about the first of the month.

by Sun Tribune Editor & Ted Escobar
| November 24, 2015 5:00 AM

ROYAL CITY — While the Royal Slop Railroad is not moving forward as quickly as Port of Royal Slope Executive Director Cathy Potter would like, she has other good news to tout.

Potter is most excited about a recycling company out of Seattle that wants to locate at the PORS industrial park. She said the company has a patent on a new process for recycling fiberglass from the blades of power-generating windmills.

“Nobody had been able to deal with the used blades, and they went to landfills until these guys figured it out,” Potter said.

This recycled fiberglass will be good for all kinds of uses, Potter has been told.

What has Potter most interested is the potential the company owners are touting. They said they would start with about 25 new jobs. But that could shoot up to 175 within months.

One thing that had to happen first is bringing rail service to a property that would be the right size for the operation. Potter said engineers and surveyors have done the work that’s needed before seeking the funding.

The spur that was designed would cost about $1.65 million. It would be 4,400 feet long. There would be a siding of about 2,400 feet.

Regarding the railroad, Potter noted that Frontier Rail owner Paul Didelius has parked about 100 empty tanker cars on the RSRR line just outside of Othello to generate some revenue for its operation. Part of Frontier’s business is rail car storage.

Didelius was going to store the cars on the RSRR line for 30 days, a period which has ended. Meanwhile, Potter said that Didelius will be promoting the rail service among potential shippers if he hasn’t already started that.

“This is about all he can do until the Surface Transportation Board approves him as our operator,” Potter said.

One of the PORS businesses that projects to use rail considerably has not had as quick a start as was expected. BRC holdings of Puyallup plans to ship Idaho farm commodities to a property it bought from the PORS in the Hiawatha Industrial Park. From there, the commodities will be distributed all over Washington by truck.

“Once he gets going, I think he’ll have a lot of business,” Potter said.

Potter reported that she recently sent an earnest money agreement to a liquid organic fertilizer company based in California. It’s for an 8-9 acre land purchase in the PORS industrial park. She expects the signed agreement to be returned this week.

“They will produce the fertilizer here and market it in Washington and California,” Potter said.

One more potential business for the PORS is an irrigation company that’s considering siting Itself across the street from the Port office. Potter said the company is still deciding whether it needs eighth acres of ground or nine.

“They want to be on the highway so they can be visible,” Potter said.