The local intermodal facility has won satellite port status for
cargo clearance.
AUBURN – They won’t be steaming up the Androscoggin River, but cargo on freighters from far-off nations can now clear customs here.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge signed off on an order Tuesday morning that designates Auburn’s intermodal facility as being within the port limits of Portland.
The sprawling facility covers more than 5 acres near the airport and is crossed by rail tracks and roads. It’s the place where containerized cargo shipments are transferred from rail cars to trailers for truck transport to final shipping destinations.
The area was updated more than a year ago with the creation of a secure cargo holding area in preparation for the start of the anticipated customs inspections. The Customs Service said last spring that it had approved the facility for customs officers to inspect cargo.
City officials have said that port status should generate increased business for the facility, which is operated by the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad, a subsidiary of Genesee and Wyoming Railroad.
Someday, city officials also have said, cargo clearance might not be the only service offered as a result of Ridge’s signature. Passengers landing at the nearby Auburn-Lewiston Municipal Airport on flights that originated from Canada or elsewhere might also be able to clear customs here, if enough call for the service develops.
The intermodal facility has handled freight off-loaded at ports in Canada practically since its inception, via connections with the St. Lawrence and Atlantic. The railroad has land transportation agreements with several foreign-flagged steamship companies.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced the signing by Ridge on Tuesday. She and Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, have been working on gaining the customs clearance in Auburn.
As chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, Collins oversees the Department of Homeland Security, which includes the Customs Service.
Quicker and easier
Until now, international cargo arriving at the intermodal facility had to be hauled to Portland for customs clearance, then returned for rail or truck transport to final destinations from the facility. Railroad officials have called that a costly and time-consuming process.
The facility processes an estimated 1,400 international containers of imported cargo annually.
St. Lawrence & Atlantic has identified potential customers that could result in a volume of 35,000 containers or more annually, but that volume couldn’t be handled without the federal customs inspections of the 40-foot containers at the Auburn facility.
“This is great news for the city of Auburn and the entire region,” said Collins. “With a Customs Service presence the Auburn Intermodal Facility will become a powerful generator of economic development. This could lead to a dramatic increase in business at the facility and a substantial boost to the area economy.”
Collins convened a meeting with U.S. Customs Service officials, city leaders and the railroad last fall. Customs officials committed then to working to include the Auburn facility within Portland’s port limits.
The approval also allows Auburn to apply for the facility to become part of a Foreign Trade Zone, Collins said. City officials have said that a zone is part of their economic development plan and indicated that they intend to apply for the designation.
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