June 21, 2012 [Daily Press] - Nearly two years after the Yorktown refinery stopped refining, the facility's new owner is reshaping the business with plans to expand its capabilities as a transportation terminal for fuels.
Roy Lamoreaux, director of investor relations for Plains All American Pipeline and Plains All American Natural Gas Storage, said the company plans to renovate the facility’s storage capacity as well as expand pipeline, marine and rail transportation capacity.
The $35 million renovation and expansion project includes modernizing tanks, improving the piping infrastructure, expanding the rail facilities and making structural repairs and improvements to its dock.
Houston-based Plains All American purchased the shuttered refinery and a segment of an oil pipeline in New Mexico in December for $220 million from El Paso-based Western Refining.
At the time it closed the refinery, former owner Western Refining kept about 30 employees and continued to operate the facility’s product terminal for shipping finished gasoline, diesel and other fuel products.
Under Plains All American’s ownership the terminal serves as a staging point for supplying products like gasoline, diesel, butane, ethanol and crude oil to the Hampton Roads area as well as for further distribution and processing across the East Coast region.
Lamoreaux said in addition to the changes being made this year at the terminal, Plains is pursuing a larger scale expansion that could increase the number of employees. There are currently about 30 employees working at the facility.
“The full expansion is contingent on our being able to secure the necessary (state and federal) permits,” he said. “Assuming we are able to complete the full expansion, we could potentially more than double the number of full-time or contract employees.”
York County officials and supervisors are thrilled at the prospect of the former refinery growing as a terminal.
