Design of First California Marine Oil Terminal in 25 Years Rises to the Challenge: ''What Does it Take to Build an MOT in Today's Environment?''

As domestic oil supplies continue to dwindle over the coming decade, California must import nearly 1 million barrels per day of crude in order to meet the demand. The demand for crude oil is forecasted to rise by 20 percent over the next ten years even after accounting for the increased efficiencies of consumption and the rising popularity of alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles. To help meet this demand, independent pipeline and terminal operator Pacific Energy Partners is proposing to construct a Crude Oil Import Terminal on Pier 400 (Berth 408) at the Port of Los Angeles with the capacity to import 250,000 barrels per day. While other papers are focusing specifically on the challenging structural issues associated with this terminal, this paper highlights the broader technical, environmental, and political challenges faced during the course of the project development. As the first marine oil terminal to be constructed in California since 1984, the design criteria and approach to safety and spill prevention paved new ground that will set the standard for future facilities of this type. The terminal design incorporated many state-of-the-art systems and features, exceeding regulatory requirements in many cases, including: 1) Laser-assisted Docking Aid System; 2) Quick Release Mooring Hooks With Integral Load Monitoring and Staged Alarm; 3) Unloading Arms With Quick Connect/Disconnect Couplers; 4) Real-time Environmental and Seismic Sensor Monitoring; 5) Gangway Tower With Integral Position Monitoring and Staged Alarm; 6) Redundant Fire Protection System; 7) Distillate Fuel Loading System to Tankers For Cleaner Emissions; 8) Emergency Shutdown System; and 9) Systems Integration For Effective Operator Control. In addition, several state-of-the-art analyses performed during the course of the planning and design phase of the project are discussed herein, including: 1) Berth Availability Due to Wind and Wave Conditions; 2) Passing Vessel Motion Analyses; 3) Tsunami Hazard Analysis; 4) Seismic Structural Analysis Per New MOTEMS Requirements; and 5) Structural and Piping Stress Analysis. Lastly, the design of the terminal involved many challenges, some of which are unique to the modern permitting environment in California. The challenges and hurdles discussed herein include: 1) Regulatory and Permitting Hurdles; 2) Political Challenges; and 3) Alternative Marine Power Challenges. This facility incorporates all the requirements of the new Marine Oil Terminal Engineering and Maintenance Standards (MOTEMS) that were recently promulgated by the California State Lands Commission, Marine Facilities Division. These new standards address structural and geotechnical seismic analysis and design, berthing and mooring system design, electrical and mechanical systems design, pipeline design and fire detection, prevention, and suppression design. The features and systems incorporated into the terminal design, and the rigorous analyses conducted to understand and justify the design, culminate in the most modern marine oil terminal ever to be constructed in the United States that should ensure the safe and environmentally conscious oil supply to the state of California over the coming decades.