California Port Approves Space for Wood Recycler

A new recycling venture has been approved by the Redwood City Port Commission, a wood waste facility on three acres of the former Texaco petroleum terminal site at the port.

Ferma Corporation/SRDC Recycling will operate the facility for about a year while planning and environmental studies are conducted on possible long-term uses of the nine-acre former liquid bulk terminal property. The wood waste recycling operation will consist of a maximum of 50 trucks per day bringing wood waste to the site; the wastes are debris from building demolition and "green wood" from landscaping and tree removal. The waste wood is sorted and put through a shredder or chipper, stockpiled, and loaded onto trucks destined to a cogeneration electricity plant in Sacramento Valley.

Ferma will install 10-foot high corrugated metal fencing on a portion of the property that is nearest offices, and fabric wind screen on the Seaport Boulevard side of the property, as well as temporary lights. The recycler will also demolish the former Texaco office/warehouse building that was built in the late 1960s and once housed the Port’s administration office. The building has been closed for a number of years.

Port Executive Director Michael Giari said that environmental studies are underway for longer term uses of all, or part of the nine-acre site including a biodiesel production facility. Ferma has also expressed an interest in longer term lease of the site for wood waste recycling which would involve barging the woodchips to the Port of Sacramento and they will be examining the feasibility of this operation.