Heather Besser staffs the Mid-Willamette Valley Intermodal Center in Millersburg. In the background, there is the terminal’s huge crane. (Photo taken Oct. 25, 2023)
Since the Mid-Willamette Valley Intermodal Center in Millersburg opened with great fanfare last December, people have been wondering why it isn’t operating and when it will start doing so.
The answers seem to lie in factors affecting trade around the world, where conditions have changed since the idea for the center was hatched and gained support in the Oregon legislature in 2017.
The center, including three new train tracks and various pieces of loading machinery, was built to transfer shipping containers from trucks to railroad cars, and vice versa. This could cut shipping costs between the valley and ports such as Seattle, helping Oregon farms and other businesses.
Built on the grounds of a former paper mill last owned and then demolished by International Paper, the center was funded by $23.8 million from the state and $12.9 million from Linn County. When it opened with a ceremony on Dec. 15, 2022, then-Gov. Kate Brown and others spoke of how important the project was to the Oregon economy.
But so far, not a single container has been processed at the center. I asked Donald S. Waddell to explain the problem. He’s an Oregon State University graduate in finance and a former executive for Willamette Industries, Weyerhaeuser and International Paper. Since 2019 he has been involved with the Millersburg project and now serves as the acting executive director for Mid-Willamettte Valley Intermodal Center, a nonprofit public benefit corporation that owns the facility.
“I agreed to help out the MVIC primarily to give back to the community I grew up in,” Waddell told me by email from Phoenix, Ariz., where he lives.
In the email exchange, I asked him why the center has not yet moved any containers.
“The overall macro environment for imports coming into the USA has declined considerably since this project was approved and construction was completed on the MVIC,” he replied. “Less imports means fewer empty containers for exports. Competition for empty containers is fierce. All major players (e.g., ocean carriers (SSLs), railroads, terminal operators and trucking companies) in this supply chain are working diligently to maintain their margins. Starting up a new terminal in this environment has proven to be very difficult as existing customer retention becomes the priority for the major players in this supply chain.”
SSLs stands for steam ship lines, I gathered.
Waddell said he was “currently working directly with the ocean carriers, the railroads, marine terminal operators and importers and exporters in the region to uncover what is needed and when international container business will begin at the MVIC.”
Last year, a company called ConGlobal was shown as the operator of the Millersburg center but is no longer in the picture.
The gate was open when I showed up on the bike on a cold Wednesday afternoon.
This big crane spans three new railroad tracks. It was assembled last March.
Postscript: In the shipping business, the terms “intermodal” and “reload” have different meanings, I learned since posting this. I edited the original accordingly and also updated the dollar amounts contributed by the state and Linn County. (hh)
What a huge rip off waste of tax payer money I’d like to know where the pay off money went .This was bound to be a failure from the start , but I’ll bet someone got rich . I would have bet there was going too be an empty container problem before they broke ground WHAT A FIASCO !!!!!
I don’t understand the comment that not a single container has been processed. I drive past regularly and have seen multiple containers stacked by the crane. I assume they eventually get processed. I also rarely see the gate open so I assume it will only be open if containers to be loaded / unloaded are expected.
Maybe they’re “practice containers” for training purposes?
I call BS…!!
All one has to do is look at container shipping metrics. If is up and there’s still a backlog at the ports. Scam and a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Needs some one to take the bull by the horns. Step up and order some containers. Imagine the amount of traffic it will take off I 5.
Wondering how to spell “boondoggle.”
You spelled it correctly, Peggy, and your thinking is correct, too!!! Boondoggle now has a new definition: That is, the off-loading failure at Albany in Linn County Oregon
Hasso: You hit on the gist of the whole fiasco in your second paragraph when you said the world has changed since this idea for the reloading or inter-modal (or whatever the pipe dream is called) was hatched in the Oregon legislature in 2017.
What an embarrassing mess and a complete squandering of money!!!
Sounds like a great location for a homeless camp
1) Obviously the very slow start isn’t good news, but I’ll allow for the possibility that down the road the site will be busy. 2) Props to Heather Besser for being game to be photographed.
Hey Lundy, Love your positive
“Long Term Investment”, to me, means that there will be at least some return on your money. There appears to be no income therefore it is a total LOSS to the party/parties put up the money.
Are there other facilities like this one in the US? Are they actively be used? If there are were they being operated and if so are they still in operation?
There are *many* intermodal facilities across USA currently operating. The article succinctly indicates the specific problems for this one.
Why are there still people camping in the park? Why is the bike path still covered in garbage? Why is the stream still full of shopping carts? I don’t want to live in your ward anymore because I’m tired of living next to an unsanctioned homeless camp.
If you’ve got time for arguing about money on the internet, you got time to answer my questions.
I believe your many comments have already been succinctly answered by both City Staff and the PD. You just don’t like the answers you’ve been getting…
I have recieved ONE reply to my “many comments” about The Periwinkle Bike Path. That reply was from a different council member who told me that Kinder Park gets cleaned. And that was just a few days ago. And not what I was talking about anyway.
The only police officer I’ve spoken to about this told me the APD’s “hands are tied”. They may have told YOU what the deal is, but suggesting that they’ve already given ME an answer is downright ignorant of you.
Two of the people who lived in the parks (the screamers in both Kinder Park and the Bike Path) don’t stay the night there anymore. The others NEVER LEFT. What was the answer to why there’s still a homeless camp there again? Remind me, I don’t remember it being “succinct”.
So, yeah, I’m going to keep asking until I get an answer that isn’t just a shrug.
Is this the succinct reply that you are referring to? When are you up for re-election?
Do I have to scream my questions at 2am in the park to be heard?
The city park in my neighborhood is full of garbage and crime and the police department refuses to enforce laws there. Have the decency to do your job or we’ll find someone else who will.
Typical of state programs that there is absolutely no accountability. From funds for recycling, to drug treatment, homelessness, money is thrown away…those that direct and manage these cash cows grow rich from the tax dollars without having to prove their worth. Spend ourselves into Oblivion.
When LABOR DISPUTES tie up the ports, you don’t have containers moving. It’s THAT SIMPLE! This crap has been going on for decades.
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2023/02/container-shipping-rebounds-at-port-of-portland-after-infamous-labor-dispute.html
This is another reason I dont care for Oregon politics! Waste $ tax, then waste more! Seen this for the last 30 years in Oregon..been here 71 years
Thanks for the detailed explanation, Hasso. Not sure why most of the commenters can’t accept that this is the nature of supply and demand and that these unusual conditions could not have been reasonably predicted.
How long had it been since we had an excess of exports over imports?
Folks we live in Hub City, this will pay. It fits our historic geography and it is worth a try. The paper mill is gone. Blame IP and Weyerhaeuser if you want to. I appreciate that our local elected leaders are trying to do something to benefit our area. Oregon is an export economy and we send our agriculture all over the world.
This is a monument to the failed bs of Kate Brown! Yes, it is a boondoggle. One more example of the local taxpayers getting screwed over! My kids liked to watch the trucks getting tipped up to unload them there previously…now it is just the taxpayers getting tipped for every cent of taxes the politicians can extract. This area, and Oregon, has become a tax hellhole. Enuf…got to go figure out how to pay my five figure property tax bill. Be safe.
What about the Linn County Commissioners who put $12.9 million into this project and made a commitment to fund it for 10 YEARS, if needed. This is a monumental failure by them as well! Fingers should be pointed at all that backed the MVIC and are putting our tax money towards this failed project.
Another of the many reasons Roger Nyquist should never be allowed anywhere near public office.