May 17, 2024

Washington Public Ports Association recognizes Port of Grays Harbor with 2024 Community Engagement Award

STEVENSON, Washington – Every year, the Washington Public Ports Association (WPPA) recognizes ports across the state for their extraordinary accomplishments in the categories of job creation, community engagement, creative partnership, and environmental stewardship.

This year, the WPPA is pleased to honor the Port of Grays Harbor with our Community Engagement Award for their Satsop Historic Video Tour. This award recognizes the dedication and care taken by port staff in responding to public interest and finding creative solutions to answering questions posed by their constituents, even through shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Port of Grays Harbor’s Satsop Business Park is on the grounds of an unfinished nuclear power plant, officially named Washington Public Power Supply Units 3 and 5. The plant’s infrastructure, particularly the cooling towers, generates a lot of public interest. Visitor questions at the business park have mainly focused on the power plant, rather than the port’s work there, and prior to the pandemic the port provided walking tours of the grounds.

Tours were discontinued during pandemic-related shutdowns. After the port re-opened, port staff lacked the capacity to provide tours and adequately convey the history of the site. Public interest, however, remained.

In that interest, the port saw an opportunity to provide its community and visitors with an enduring educational resource, and staff applied to Grays Harbor County for a Lodging Tax Grant to document the history of the unfinished nuclear power plant. The port successfully secured grant funding in spring 2022 and worked with a local media company to create a five-video series on the history of the business park and power plant. The videos explore Cooling Tower 3, Reactor Building 3, the Turbine Building, Reactor Building 5 and Cooling Tower 5. Published in June 2023, the videos are available on the Port’s website and YouTube channel.

The port immediately felt the impact of these videos. To date, the Full Tour video on YouTube has more than 1,300 views, standing in contrast to the 60 tour participants the park typically received each summer. The port can educate a much wider audience and now maintains a library of historical knowledge that the public can access on demand.



The port’s actions demonstrate its focus on and responsiveness to its community, and WPPA is pleased to recognize them with our 2024 Community Outreach Award.

To view the Satsop Historic Video Tour collection, visit https://www.portofgraysharbor.com/sbp-history.

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As a state legislative and regulatory advocacy organization, the Washington Public Ports Association (WPPA) fosters public policy for ports to achieve their goals. The WPPA was formed by the Legislature in 1961 to represent public port districts throughout Washington, serving as the focus through which ports work cooperatively to develop policy direction, share information, and address issues on economic development, trade, transportation, and environmental stewardship. Public port districts offer a wide range of locally governed services, including marine terminals, barge facilities, industrial development, marinas, airports, railroads, and tourism promotion. Learn more at washingtonports.org. 

CONTACT

Eric ffitch

Washington Public Ports Association

E: effitch@washingtonports.org

T: 360-763-1179