A potential ban on new bulk crude oil or coal terminals at the Port of Vancouver, Wash., is being opposed by officials at Idaho’s only port.

Lewiston port commissioners took a stand against the proposal, approving a letter they will send to fellow commissioners in Vancouver.

That action came at a Wednesday meeting where commissioners also discussed a proposal for a fill site, heard an update about a cedar log business and reviewed the budget for the coming fiscal year.

Even though the Port of Lewiston doesn’t handle anything listed by the Port of Vancouver, the Lewiston commissioners worry it could limit future opportunities.

“We are concerned the Port of Vancouver may approve policies that affect regional supply chains without creating the positive environmental and economic outcomes that our respective constituencies want us to produce,” according to the letter.

The letter is in response to a draft resolution and policy the Port of Vancouver is considering.

If it’s approved, the Port of Vancouver wouldn’t pursue any new crude oil or coal terminals. But it would continue to support existing tenant operations in those categories.

At the same time, the port would back a “global shift toward renewable energy sources by examining opportunities to support innovative businesses and emerging technologies,” according to the draft policy.

The Vancouver port would adapt a “triple bottom line methodology” approach with projects, customers and cargoes that considers social, economic and environmental factors, according to the draft policy.

That philosophy has Port of Lewiston commissioners wondering if Vancouver would extend the ban to include machinery for the fossil fuel industry.

That type of business has been profitable in the past to the Port of Lewiston.

Lewiston’s port made hundreds of thousands of dollars a decade ago from oversized “mega” loads belonging to a Canadian subsidiary of Exxon Mobil, which triggered protests.

That cargo was unloaded from ocean-going vessels with large cranes at the Port of Vancouver and placed on barges that took the equipment up the Columbia and Snake rivers.

A few years later, the Port of Lewiston reviewed a proposed coal facility at the Port of Morrow in Boardman, Ore., which never came to fruition.

In other business, commissioners:

Directed Port Manager David Doeringsfeld to identify a property value for a draw near the base of the Lewiston Hill on port land. McCall’s Classic Construction is interested in the 12-acre site as a place to deposit rock, dirt and gravel. The company needs a spot for those types of materials because it prepares sites for development by completing work such as excavation, installation of underground utilities and construction of sidewalks, said Kyle McCall, a superintendent with the company.

A Lewiston area business does accept the materials, but the construction contractor is seeking a less-expensive option. A number of details need to be worked out before the company would proceed, including how drainage would be handled, where entrances would be located and if McCall would accept loads from other companies.

Listened to a report about Alta Forest Products, based in Chehalis, Wash., which identifies itself as the world’s largest manufacturer of wood fence boards. Starting next month, the business will be loading two barges a month with cedar logs at the Port of Lewiston. The port will earn $2,000 for each barge, plus another $15,000 a year for a 2-acre land lease.

Reviewed the port’s proposed $1.88 million budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1. The port would receive $405,000 in property tax revenue, the same amount it is getting this year. The largest expense is $500,000 for expansion of the port’s fiber optic network. It presently reaches locations such as Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, Vista Outdoor, the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport and the construction site of Lewiston’s new high school. The port is still deciding where it will expand next year.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.