The company told the port in a formal termination letter that  its studies over the last seven months showed a new tank farm wouldn’t be economically viable.

Targa Sound Terminal President Troy Goodman told port Chief Executive Officer John Wolfe that the company’s plans for a long-term lease of the port-owned site of the former Kaiser Aluminum smelter wouldn’t be moving forward.

The company had planned to use the site to build a rail yard and tank farm to receive and distribute crude oil and biofuel from the upper plains states brought to the Puget Sound area in 100-car trains.

“We used the feasibility period to thoroughly evaluate the option of leasing the property and expanding our operations. In spite of the tremendous support we received and our best efforts, we regret that we have been unable to identify an economical path forward for our project. For this reason, we have given notice to port staff that Targa is terminating the lease for the former Kaiser site.” said Goodman in a letter to Wolfe.

The signing of the preliminary agreement for the site earlier this year was a critical step forward for the port in its efforts to diversify its business.  The terminal would have employed some 50 full-time workers. Likewise, it would have created dozens more jobs in the railroad and shipping businesses that would have serviced the terminal.

In anticipation of the terminal’s construction, the port began planning and construction of two long lead tracks to serve the terminal and other facilities along the Blair Waterway. The port also took steps to complete final environmental cleanup of the 96-acre former smelter site.

Targa said it will continue to operate its existing terminal along the Tideflats’ Hylebos Waterway.

“Targa remains committed to Tacoma and we will continue to grow as your neighbor at our existing facility. We continue to invest millions in our existing facility; this month we plan to start the construction of several new tanks,” Goodman told the port.