Template revised January 10, 2019.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM Item No. 8i
ACTION ITEM Date of Meeting December 9, 2025
DATE: December 2, 2025
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Elizabeth Black, Deputy General Counsel
Pete Ramels, General Counsel
SUBJECT: Authorization to Execute Settlement Agreement for Recovery of Cleanup Costs at
Terminal 91
Amount of this request: N/A
T
otal estimated project cost: N/A
ACTION REQUESTED
Request Commission authorization for the Executive Director to execute a settlement agreement
with Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc. and related entities (“Crown”) to recover approximately
$2,300,000 in costs associated with the Port’s cleanup of the Terminal 91 uplands.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Over several decades, the Port has spent more than $28.5 million on the environmental cleanup
of Terminal 91. The Port is working to recover these costs, as well as estimated future costs, from
other responsible parties who caused or contributed to contamination at the site.
Contamination at Terminal 91 resulted from a variety of sources. From the late 1800s through
1920, owners of the area included various railroads, land development companies, and private
individuals. The Great Northern Railroad began to develop the area in the early 1900s by filling
in the area between the Magnolia Bluff and Queen Anne Hill. Philip Services constructed a tank
farm in the 1920s and operated it as a fuel storage facility in the late 1920s and 1930s. The U.S.
Navy acquired the entire facility in 1942 and operated the tank farm primarily as a fuel and
lubricating oil transfer station until 1972, when the Port leased back the consolidated facility and
subleased the tank farm to Philip Services. Philip Services conducted waste oil recovery and
wastewater treatment until 1995. The tank farm was subsequently used for fuel storage and
blending until 2003 and was demolished in 2005.
Under the proposed settlement agreement, Crown will pay the Port $2,300,000 for cleanup costs
associated with its contribution of contamination to the site. This matter was further discussed
in privileged attorney-client communications. There are no attachments to this memo.
