Port of Pasco obtains federal funds for last-mile rail project

The Port of Pasco in Washington state will receive $3.6 million in federal funding for a last-mile rail project that will connect industrial property to a BNSF Railway Co. yard.

The funding was included in the fiscal-year 2023 omnibus appropriations bill approved by Congress last month. The project calls for construction of 6,100 feet of rail between the port-owned Reimann Industrial Center and the BNSF rail yard, port officials said in a press release.

The last-mile rail project will ensure the industrial center will support multimodal transportation, they said.

The federal funds will fill the final funding gap in a $25 million project that — until now — had been funded by local and state sources.

Initially, the rail line will serve a Darigold Inc. milk processing facility slated to open in 2024. The company broke ground on that $600 million project in September 2022. The line will also serve other businesses expected to move into the industrial center.