The Port of West Sacramento
has closed escrow on a 19-acre parcel of land that is slated to be developed into
two separate projects: a rail loop and renewable fuels facility.
Sierra Northern Railway
will build the loop track using $960,000 in federal rail improvement grant funds
awarded to the port. Port and railway officials say the rail loop should allow port
workers to load and unload rail cars more quickly and efficiently.
“This new loop track is
a huge advance for the port,” Yolo County Supervisor and Sacramento-Yolo Port Commission
Chair Mike McGowan said in a statement regarding the transaction. “We'll be able
to … reduce rail impacts in West Sacramento.”
The renewables facility
will produce biomass diesel from local municipal solid waste. Officials say the
fuels facility would eventually produce 365,000 gallons of renewable diesel that
would be blended with conventional diesel.
SacPort Biofuels Corp. is
expected to develop a gasification process at its Port of West Sacramento facility
to use landfill-bound green refuse, construction waste and plastics.
The acreage for the projects
was transferred by the port to Sierra Northern June 11 for development. Both facilities
are expected to be built within the next year.
