REPORT Transloading Facility Feasibility Study Final Report Prepared for: City of Terrace Prepared by: CPCS CPCS Ref: 18255 October 11, 2019 REPORT | Terrace Transloading Facility Feasibility Study Acknowledgments CPCS acknowledges and is thankful for input provided by The City of Terrace and other stakeholders consulted in the development of this report. Cover image source: CPCS REPORT | Terrace Transloading Facility Feasibility Study Acronyms / Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. 3 Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................... 4 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 11 Background and Objective ..................................................................................................... 11 Study Structure ....................................................................................................................... 12 Purpose of this Report............................................................................................................ 12 Methodology .......................................................................................................................... 12 2 Geographic Context .................................................................................................................. 14 Overall Transportation Connectivity ...................................................................................... 14 Multi-Modal Facilities in the Region ...................................................................................... 15 Truck and Rail Service in Terrace ........................................................................................... 25 Considerations for a Transloading Facility in Terrace ............................................................ 26 3 Market Potential ...................................................................................................................... 28 Conceptual Value Proposition ................................................................................................ 28 Aluminum ............................................................................................................................... 31 Cement ................................................................................................................................... 32 Containerized LNG .................................................................................................................. 33 Forestry Products ................................................................................................................... 35 Fuels........................................................................................................................................ 42 Grains and Special Crops ........................................................................................................ 42 Mining and Mineral Ore ......................................................................................................... 43 Plastics .................................................................................................................................... 46 Project Cargo .......................................................................................................................... 49 Refrigerated Cargo ................................................................................................................. 52 Other Industries / Manufactured Goods................................................................................ 53 Inbound Transloading............................................................................................................. 55 Summary of Opportunities ..................................................................................................... 55 4 Potential Transload Facility Needs ............................................................................................ 59 Infrastructure Needs and Dimensions ................................................................................... 59 5 Preliminary Site Evaluation ....................................................................................................... 67 Study Area and Candidate Sites ............................................................................................. 67 Preliminary Site Selection ...................................................................................................... 70 6 Assessment of Alternative Sites ................................................................................................ 74 Sites Overview ........................................................................................................................ 75 REPORT | Terrace Transloading Facility Feasibility Study Site Investigation Summary Results ....................................................................................... 77 Summary of Evaluation .......................................................................................................... 91 7 Facility Concept, Financial and Economic Case .......................................................................... 95 Potential Facility Concepts ..................................................................................................... 95 Financial Feasibility .............................................................................................................. 101 Project Structuring Considerations ...................................................................................... 106 Project Benefits and Impacts ............................................................................................... 110 Key Next Steps ...................................................................................................................... 116 8 Overall Strategic Case ............................................................................................................. 120 Appendix A: Organizations Interviewed ..................................................................................... 122 Appendix B: Map of Selected Industrial Facilities in Northwest BC ............................................. 123 Appendix C: Potential Funding Sources ...................................................................................... 124 Appendix D: Detailed Evaluation Matrix .................................................................................... 129 REPORT | Terrace Transloading Facility Feasibility Study Acronyms / Abbreviations AIA Archaeological Impact Assessment AiP Area In Principal AOA Archaeological Overview Assessment CIMT Canadian International Merchandise Trade CN Canadian National CoC Certificate Of Compliance CSR Contaminated Sites Regulation DWT Deadweight Tonne EMA Environmental Management Act ENV (BC) Ministry Of The Environment And Climate Change ESA Environmental Site Assessment FEED Front-End Engineering Design FOIPPA Freedom Of Information And Protection Of Privacy Act GHG Greenhouse Gas KSM Kerr - Sulphurets - Mitchell KVL Kalum Ventures Ltd. LNG Liquefied Natural Gas LPG Liquefied Propane Gas MFLNRORD Ministry Of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations And Rural Development mmfbm Million Board Feet NDIT Northern Development Initiative Trust NTCF National Trade Corridors Fund NEB National Energy Board PDH Propane Dehydrogenation PFR Preliminary Field Reconnaissance PIC Petrochemical Industries Company PRPA Prince Rupert Port Authority RO/RO Roll-On/Roll-Off RRUC Road Rail Utility Corridor RSIP Rail Safety Improvement Program SIDP Skeena Industrial Development Park TEU Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units TMP (City Of Terrace) Transportation Master Plan UWR Ungulate Winter Range | 3 REPORT | Terrace Transloading Facility Feasibility Study Executive Summary The City of Terrace (“the City”) rightly views the multimodal transportation system as an important enabler of regional economic development. Better transportation connectivity and increased transportation options, can help to lower shipper transportation costs, reduce transit times, and increase supply chain reliability. This can help increase shipper competitiveness and that of the jurisdictions in which they operate. This in turn can lead to investment, growth and jobs. To these ends, a team led by CPCS (the “CPCS Team”) was retained by the City to investigate the feasibility of and to develop the preliminary business case for constructing a transloading facility in or near Terrace. Development and operations of transloading facilities are typically led by the private sector. Unlike other types of feasibility studies for public infrastructure (e.g. transit, etc.), the purpose of this study is not to opine on whether the City should proceed with developing a transloading facility itself, necessarily.1 Rather, the purpose of the study is to provide an analysis of the likely need for such a facility based on an assessment of possible cargo markets, and, accordingly, provide the City with a vision for how it could foster the development of such a facility through appropriate planning and marketing. What is a transloading facility? A transloading facility refers to a terminal that allows for cargo to be transferred from one mode of transportation (e.g. truck) to another. In this