SWG-2015-00725 - Jonathan Fowler-Targa Downstream LLC - Houston Ship Channel - Harris County, Texas

Public Notice          Project Plans

The applicant proposes to install approximately 1,215 feet of new bulkhead, a new ship dock, barge dock, pipe racks, access road, three new 60-inch-diameter breasting dolphins, one new 60-inch-diameter mooring dolphin, and nine breasting fenders fastened to the bulkhead wall to construct the proposed Patriot Terminal on a 16.6-acre site adjacent to the Houston Ship Channel (HSC). The proposed ship dock will be 90-foot-long and 45-foot-wide and oriented parallel to the HSC and directly abut the newly installed bulkhead wall. The ship dock will match the modified elevations and will be supported by twenty-four 24-inch-square concrete piles pneumatically installed to a depth to ensure structural integrity. The proposed barge dock will be 100-foot-long and 45-foot-wide and oriented parallel to the HSC. The barge dock infrastructure will be elevated approximately 3 feet above existing grade to 12 feet above the mean high water (MHW) line and will be supported by twenty-one 24-inch-square concrete piles pneumatically installed to a depth to ensure structural integrity. A staircase will be attached to the proposed barge dock allowing access to the breasting fenders fastened to the bulkhead wall. The proposed project would support one 750-foot-long vessel and two 300-foot-long barges positioned parallel to the HSC. The terminal would have a 255-foot setback from the HSC in order to not impede vessel traffic. Site preparation, including the demolition and removal of existing bulkhead and docking structures, will be completed first.

Following site preparation, the new bulkhead would be installed approximately 50 feet landward of the previously existing bulkhead in uplands, and approximately 5,000 cubic yards (CY) of material will be mechanically excavated from 0.9 acre of dry land in front of the new bulkhead. Approximately 240,000 CY of material would be mechanically and/or hydraulically dredged from an additional 5.1 acres channelward of the new bulkhead to a maximum depth of -47 feet mean lower low water (MLLW) and within 0.9 acres to a maximum depth of -18.44 feet MLLW adjacent to the proposed barge dock. The total dredge and excavation footprint consists of 6.9 acres. All dredged/excavated material will be placed within public or private upland confined dredge material placement areas (DMPAs) or beneficial use (BU) site, including but not limited to Targa Dynegy DMPA, Clinton DMPA, Pinto Lion Jacintoport DMPA, Stimson House Tract DMPA, and East and West Jones DMPA. Additionally, Targa proposes 10 years of future maintenance dredging to maintain a depth of -47 feet MLLW at the ship docks.

The applicant stated that the purpose of the proposed Patriot Terminal project is to offer clients the opportunity to load, transport, and export petroleum and petroleum products gathered from pipelines/storage facilities and sold on the domestic/international market. Construction of the proposed project would provide the intermodal transportation capabilities necessary to fulfill strategic corporate expansion initiatives and stability within a growing market.