Overview of the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project
What is actually being proposed, and how to make your voice heard!
Humboldt Waterkeeper has been studying the proposed Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal on the Samoa Peninsula for several years, with a focus on its potential impacts on Humboldt Bay — known to Wiyot people as Wigi — and the surrounding communities.
The project site, known as Redwood Marine Terminal I. Drone image by Oren Nardi.
Understanding what is being proposed is the first step to understand the project's impacts. We developed this summary of the latest project description to help people think about how the project would impact the bay ecosystem, water quality, and people with various relationships with the bay. In the coming weeks, we'll be developing comments as we continue to research the impacts of the project components.
The Harbor District is now calling for input on the project: impacts that should be analyzed, as well as alternatives and mitigation measures that should be considered to lessen those impacts.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS AND KEY DATES
The Notice of Preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was recently released for a 60-day public review period. The NOP contains the complete Project Description, with figures that are posted separately.
A public scoping meeting will be held on Nov. 4 at 5:30 pm at the Eureka Veterans Memorial Hall, 1018 H Street, Eureka, CA 95501. Oral comments will be limited to 90 seconds: not much time, so be prepared to make your position as clear, concise, and direct as you can!
Written comments are due at 5 pm on Dec. 7 via email to projectcomments@humboldtbay.org or by U.S. mail to: Chris Mikkelsen, Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District, P.O. Box 1030, Eureka, California 95502-1030.
These “scoping” comments will become part of the public record and should provide input on the scope of the environmental review, including:
What potential impacts should be considered in the Draft Environmental Impact Report?
What mitigation measures and project alternatives should be considered and analyzed?
Issues and concerns raised at this stage of the CEQA process become part of the public record. After the public comment period closes, the District will begin to prepare the Draft Environmental Impact Report, which is expected to be released for public review and comment in April 2027. Additional public and agency review processes will occur later, including a Coastal Development Permit.
PROJECT SUMMARY: Below is a brief summary of the Project Description as proposed. These are the most important aspects of the project to get you thinking about the types of impacts that should be analyzed, how they can be avoided or mitigated, and what alternatives should be seriously considered to reduce the impacts.
The project contemplates assembling 15-20 MW wind turbines that would be between 950 and 1,050 feet tall at the tip of the blades during rotation. Three blades 300-450 feet long would be attached to the nacelles (the power-generating components at the center of the blades) approx. 550-600 feet in elevation.
For comparison, the former Evergreeen pulp mill smokestack is approx. 300' tall.
Above: Diagram of a 20 MW floating offshore wind turbine (Humboldt Bay Harbor District, 2023).
Floating foundations made of either steel or concrete would be up to 450 feet long, up to 100 feet tall, and would weigh between 500 and 2,000 tons. Bay water will be used as ballast to stabilize floating foundations during turbine assembly, wet storage, tow-out for installation in the offshore Wind Energy Area 21-29 miles offshore, and tow-in for future maintenance.
SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The project would include the following activities:
Relocating Existing Businesses
Commercial fishing gear would be moved to Woodley Island.
Two shellfish farms, one seaweed farm, and a hagfish (slime eel) holding facility would be moved off-site to as-yet unidentified locations.
Demolition of old buildings, foundations, and debris strewn across the site will be removed, including the old Hammond/Louisiana-Pacific wharf and about 3,800 creosote piles.
A 3,000-foot-long temporary trestle would be built parallel to the shore to enable access for a crane to demolish the piles and wharf. The temporary trestle would require approx. 200 piles.
Cleanup of contamination
The extent of contamination from past industrial uses across the 180-acre site will be identified with a grant from the U.S. EPA’s Brownfield Program. Contaminants include dioxins and furans, metals, petroleum products, PCBs, mercury, etc. Extensive sampling will be done, followed by a cleanup plan to be funded by a future grant.
Sampling of bay sediments has begun in the areas proposed for dredging, revealing dioxin contamination near the old Louisiana-Pacific dock near the Samoa Bridge. Contaminated dredge spoils will need to be taken to a hazardous waste landfill. Sediments with very low levels of contamination would likely be dumped offshore, but clean sandy material could potentially be used for beach replenishment at eroded sites on the North Spit.
Dredging (see Figure 16c)
6.25 million cubic yards of bay sediment would be dredged to create a 60-foot-deep “sinking basin” for launching the wind turbines’ floating foundations, as well as temporary “wet storage” sites near Tuluwat where assembled turbines will sit waiting to be towed to sea.
Approx. 124,000 cubic yards would need to be dredged every 4 years (depending on how much material accumulates).
Eelgrass beds in the areas to be dredged would be destroyed (approx. 5-9 acres).
Pile driving using vibratory and impact hammers would be done in stages to install approximately 4,925 piles (2,840 in water and 1,235 on land for the wharves, plus another 650 piles for the wet storage structures near Tuluwat, and 200 piles for the temporary trestle mentioned above). The wharf piles will be 175’ long, 36” diameter steel pipes; the mooring dolphin piles will be 200’ long, 36” diameter steel pipes.
Shoreline armoring is envisioned as a 4-foot-thick stone revetment along the entire length of the terminal site to approx. 10 feet above the mean tide level.
Two wharves consisting of reinforced-concrete decks on steel pipe piles within-bay dolphins:
The North Wharf: 1700’ long by 150’ wide with 1,950 piles.
The South Wharf: 1800’ long by 150’ wide with 2,065 piles.
Each would have thirty 40’ by 40’ near-shore mooring dolphins.
Lighting may be required for navigational safety, although this is not mentioned in the NOP.
Temporary “Wet Storage” (see Figure 16c)
Two wet-storage areas will be dredged to depths of -38 ft. between Tuluwat Island and the Samoa navigation channel.
The 45-acre North area will accommodate up to 2 floating foundations. The 71-acre South area will accommodate up to 7 floating foundations or assembled wind turbines.
Approx. 200 piles will be driven to support berths made up of two 40 x 200 ft. platforms with 15 x 15 ft. concrete decks to temporarily stage floating foundations and assembled wind turbines before being towed to sea (see Figure 17).
In the South area, diesel generators will be required to slowly turn the rotors to prevent internal damage while in wet storage and while towing out to sea.
Lighting may be required on the wet storage structure, the assembled turbines, and the foundations, although this is not mentioned in the NOP.
Approx. 1 million cubic yards of rock and gravel would be imported to raise the elevation of the site to accommodate future sea level rise. Elevations will vary from 14.3 to 21 feet. Our calculations estimate that the top 3 feet of “Dense-Grade Aggregate” (to be imported from British Columbia) would require approx. 200 barge trips carrying 6,000 tons per barge. The remaining sandy material required to raise the site elevation would require approx. 50,000 truck trips carrying 20 tons per load.
A 2-acre concrete batch plant and aggregate storage area with up to two mobile concrete mixing plants and stockpile areas for aggregate and mixing materials, as well as admixture chemicals.
Outdoor Lighting
150-foot-tall high-mast lighting poles with 4-6 luminaires will be designed to meet DarkSky International Port Marine Terminal guidelines.
“The lighting design shall confine and direct light to its respective work zone. At least 90 percent of the total lumens emitted by the lighting system shall be contained within the designated work zones to minimize light trespass and unnecessary illumination outside the operational areas.”
Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater Systems
A sanitary sewer system to convey wastewater to the Samoa Wastewater Treatment Facility with up to 2 onsite lift stations will be installed to service the three proposed buildings.
Domestic water supply from the Mad River to be stored in an approximately 510,000 gallon tank on the site.
New stormwater features to collect runoff, including a combination of underground infiltration galleries, bioretention facilities, and treatment control to treat stormwater runoff and to intercept trash.
Energy Systems
Backup 60-kV transmission lines, two substations and a microgrid;
A 300-kW rooftop solar array, 1.9-MW battery-storage systems and 2-MW emergency generators for each phase, and a 2.5-MW solar system at the nearby Louisiana-Pacific Samoa solid waste landfill.
A 2 MW diesel backup generator for the terminal site, plus mobile diesel generators to power the wind turbines in temporary “wet storage” near Tuluwat Island.
A new 1.2-mile bike path within the Great Redwood Trail Agency corridor.
A “Waterfront Recreation Center” on Woodley Island (although it is not on the waterfront).
Offshore Wind Terminal Operations: This section lacks specifics, although it would be ongoing for 30-35 years after construction.
General “staging and integration” operations, including the use of crawler cranes and two fixed position quayside ring cranes; loading and unloading of turbine components via ships, such as blades, towers, floating foundations, and mooring equipment, such as anchors, mooring lines, and chains.
Tow-out of assembled wind turbines is not described in the NOP. Descriptions of tow-out operations at various public meetings have included “rolling closures” of the navigational channels to other vessel traffic during tow-out.
Maintenance and repair of wind turbines is likely to occur at the Heavy Lift Marine Terminal, but is not mentioned in the NOP.
Decommissioning of the terminal is not considered in the NOP.
The construction timeline for the Project is currently envisioned as follows:
2028–2029: Improving North and West Access Roads, demolition, onsite improvements, offsite improvements on Woodley Island, and constructing the onsite mitigation/habitat restoration area;
2029–2034: Majority of on site development, create sinking basin, soil improvements, construction of full 1,700 ft North Wharf and partial (600 ft) of Southern Wharf; and
2035–2037: Developing electrical infrastructure and construction of the remaining 1,200 ft of Southern Wharf.
Table 7. Construction Schedule from the Notice of Preparation.
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