| Tulsa Ports | |
| Country: | United States |
| Location: | Rogers County, Oklahoma |
| Opened: | January 1971 |
| Operated: | City of Tulsa - Rogers County Port Authority |
| Type: | Multi-modal |
| Sizeland: | 2500 acres |
| Employees: | approx. 3,000 [1] |
| Website: | http://tulsaport.com |
Tulsa Ports consists of the ports of Catoosa and Inola near Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States, on the Verdigris River, a tributary of the Arkansas River and the Mississippi River.
The ports are at and near the head of navigation for the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS). They enable year-round, ice-free barge service with river flow levels controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.[2]
The Tulsa Ports' primary facility is the Tulsa Port of Catoosa.[3] It is near the city of Catoosa in Rogers County, just inside the municipal fenceline of Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. It encompasses an area of 2500acres and employs over 4,000 people at over 70 companies in its industrial park.[4] The port ships manufactured goods and agricultural products from Oklahoma to the rest of the world.[5] Designated a foreign trade zone, it is a major economic engine for the region with over 2.7 million tons of cargo shipped through the Port in 2013 alone.[6]
The notion of making Tulsa a port city on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (MKARNS) evolved during the early 1960s, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was constructing the massive waterway. A delegation of 23 Tulsa business people travelled to Ohio to evaluate the impact of the effects of the Ohio River Valley navigation systems on regional business growth. They concluded that it would stimulate business in Oklahoma, and convinced other Tulsa business leaders to support the concept. The Metropolitan Tulsa Chamber of Commerce appointed Early Cass to chair a committee, thereafter known as the City of Tulsa–Rogers County Port Authority.[7]
The port received its first commercial shipment in January 1971,[7] It was officially opened for business on February 20, 1970, and was formally dedicated by President Richard M. Nixon on June 5, 1971.[8] This port is the largest in Oklahoma. It is also one of the largest, farthest inland river ports in the United States.[9] It is located 8miles from the Tulsa International Airport, and 15miles from downtown Tulsa. It is a fully equipped multi-modal transportation center served by both the BNSF Railroad and the South Kansas and Oklahoma Railroad. The port also provides rail switching services, known as the Port of Catoosa Industrial Railroad (PCIR), utilizing three dedicated Port-owned switch engines. The railroad's operation was turned over to OmniTRAX in August 2022.[10]
In 1971, the first full year of operation, the port handled 86,654 tons of cargo. In 2013 (the most recently reported full year), it handled over 2.7 million tons.[11]
In addition to the many private terminals for grain, fertilizer, and break-bulk cargo located along the port channel, the port operates a 200-ton capacity overhead crane as well as a roll-on/roll-off dock.
In 2016 the port added a new 720 foot dock accommodating a rail line and multiple cranes.[12]
In 2020 the Tulsa Port of Catoosa received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration for railroad crossing repairs, freight rail infrastructure, and interchange improvements at the multimodal shipping complex and industrial park.[13]
On Thursday 24 September 2020, the Tulsa Port of Catoosa rebranded to Tulsa Ports.[14] [15]
The port has five public terminals that can transfer inbound and outbound bulk freight between barges, trucks and railroad cars.
Tulsa Ports’ Inola facility, known as the Tulsa Port of Inola, is a 2,500 acre industrial park.[20] It has rail access to the Union Pacific, as well as barge access to MKARNS.[20] The first tenant, Sofidel, completed its manufacturing facility there in 2020.[20]
In September 2022, Tulsa Ports received the largest grant in its history, being $22.3 million from the federal government, toward the $27.9 million cost of the Port of Inola Industrial Wastewater Treatment Plant.[21] The plant lays the foundation for industrial facilities which could likely provide 10,000 future jobs.[21]
In December 2022 the Port announced a $15.76 million dollar rail project to rehabilitate existing track to connect the Port and the Sofidel plant with the Union Pacific main line. The project included funding from Sofidel and the United States Department of Transportation.[22] The resulting Verdigris Southern Railroad opened in April of 2024.[23]
Further upgrades are planned.[24] As of December, 2023, an additional $150 million in infrastructure improvements are to be made to roads, water, and other utilities over the next two years.[24]
On May 22, 2023, an Enel subsidiary announced the Tulsa Port of Inola as the future site of one of the largest solar cell and panel manufacturing plants in the U.S.[25] Enel expects to invest over $1 billion in the 1.5 million square foot facility, creating 1,000 permanent jobs by 2025, with the possibility of creating another 900 in a second phase.[25] [24] Oklahoma officials have called this the biggest economic development project in the state's history.[25] [24]