Ethanol Terminal Opens on Union Pacific Line
John D. Boyd | Dec 16, 2009 5:03PM GMT
The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story


Facility to meet demand as California hikes fuel blend to 10 percent
Ethanol terminal operator U.S. Development Group said its West Colton Rail Terminal at Rialto, Calif., has started handling ethanol railcars from Union Pacific Railroad.

The facility is near gasoline blending terminals that supply California’s San Bernardino and Riverside County-Inland Empire region, plus San Diego and Bakersfield.

USDG Vice President Larry Padfield said the terminal “represents a key addition to the nationwide network of logistics terminals” the company has developed, which include major ethanol hub facilities in Linden, N.J., Baltimore, Dallas and Houston.

West Colton can receive volumes from single railcars to full unit trains, and can offload 15,000 barrels of ethanol a day. USDG said it completed the facility “in time to meet the increase in ethanol demand in California resulting from the January 2010 increase to a 10 percent ethanol blend across the state.”

Future development plans there include putting in a 100-railcar unit train receiving and offloading terminal to be completed by this time next year. The company also said it will eliminate much of its current need for secondary, onsite trucking operations by building a pipeline to a nearby dedicated ethanol storage and gasoline operation.

Dave Dodds