MARCH 20 2014: PORT OF MIAMI NEWS
March 23, 2014PortMiami plans to tear down and relocate or remodel several of its warehouses.
“Nearly every warehouse is destined to be knocked down and relocated in the next five years,” said Kevin Lynskey, assistant port director.
The reasons behind the relocation of each, he said, vary – the stevedoring building is in disrepair, the refrigerated warehouse is no longer used for its original purpose because there are refrigerated shipping containers, the customs buildings are outdated and the marine spill building has six times more space than it needs – but what it comes down to is that as the port develops, space needs to be used more effectively and leveraged to optimize returns.
Last week at Miami-Dade County’s Economic Development and PortMiami committee meeting, members approved 5-0 a plan to tear down and relocate the marine spill facility at a cost of about $6.2 million.
The marine spill facility has been on the port since 1991 following the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Following that spill, a small tax was attached to petroleum products, and that money funds marine spill facilities at seaports to respond to and cleanup an oil spill if one occurs. The Marine Spill Response Corp., a Tennessee-based non-profit, operates marine spill cleanup facilities funded by that tax.
In the past 23 years, not one spill has occurred at PortMiami.