Port Opens Liquid Fertilizer Terminal

Take a little ammonium and sprinkle in some nitrates, and what you’ve got is a recipe for success.

At least that’s the hope of officials from the Oxnard Harbor District.

They joined about 50 city and county representatives and friends of the Port of Hueneme on Tuesday to officially open a new liquid fertilizer terminal that will be used to support the regional and statewide agriculture industry.

Three storage tanks on a three-acre plot close to the mouth of the harbor will be able to store more than 9 million gallons of fertilizer.

The facility will be used by Hydro Agri North America and will serve as the company’s primary point of distribution to serve farms in Ventura County, the Central Valley, Arizona and Southern California.

The $3.8-million site was built and financed by the Tampa, Fla., company and is the capstone of a four-year project to increase the size and cargo handling capabilities of the 60-year-old port.

Late last year, port officials opened a 25-acre storage terminal known as the International Agricultural Gateway, which expanded the port’s size by about half and significantly increased its cargo handling capacity.

With it, district officials have been able to increase the number of cars and agricultural products streaming into and out of the port.