DOVER, Del. (AP) - A Delaware judge has extended an order preventing the company that operates the Wilmington port from blocking access to an adjacent fuel storage terminal while he mulls a fee dispute with the owner of the terminal.
The judge said Tuesday that a restraining order he issued in April against port operator GT USA Wilmington will remain in place while he considers a request by Buckeye Partners for a preliminary injunction. The restraining order had been set to expire Tuesday evening.
The restraining order prohibits GT from blocking access to tanks holding gasoline and diesel fuel for distribution to Wawa gas stations and convenience stores throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
Texas-based Buckeye, which manages more than 6,200 miles of petroleum pipelines and more than 100 truck-loading terminals, acquired the storage terminal from Magellan Midstream Partners in March. The company also acquired leased dock space to offload petroleum products from marine vessels.
GT USA Wilmington is a subsidiary of port management company Gulftainer, which is based in the United Arab Emirates. State officials inked a deal in 2018 under which Gulftainer obtained the rights to operate the port for 50 years in exchange for agreeing to make significant upgrades and to pay the state about $10 million annually in concession payments.
After taking over the port, GT imposed a new tariff structure, which includes a new volume-based “terminal usage fee” on stevedoring, which is the physical handling of containers and cargo from vessels.
Buckeye said that it does not use third-party stevedores, and that hooking up hoses to send petroleum products through a pipeline to its storage terminals is not subject to the terminal usage fee.
GT contends that Buckeye does act as a stevedore, at least for Wawa, and that it owes GT at least $1 million for breaching the terms of the tariff and its lease. GT also argues that Buckeye has no valid easement right over the port’s main gate road, and that Buckeye’s lease payments do not cover the same services as the tariff.
The dispute escalated in April to the point that the port operator blocked Wawa fuel trucks from accessing the storage terminal, which is accessible only by roads that go through the port property. Buckeye filed a motion that same day for a temporary restraining order, which Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster granted.
Buckeye is seeking a court ruling declaring that it not owe GT any volume-based fees under the tariff, and that Buckeye and its customers have a right to access Buckeye’s property and the storage tanks. It is also seeking punitive damages against GT USA Wilmington.
GT is asking Laster to declare that the terminal usage fee applies to Buckeye. It is also seeking compensatory damages.
While not hinting how he might rule on Buckeye’s request for a preliminary injunction, Laster expressed concern during a lengthy telephonic hearing Tuesday about GT’s “heavy handed tactic.”
“What you guys effectively did was you took steps to shut them down,” the judge told an attorney for GT. “That changes the whole posture.”
“Why are you forcing me to decide this in the context of an injunction?” Laster added. “Why are we not just agreeing that until we figure out what the answer is on the money, they can keep using the roads like they’ve done for the past 12 years?”
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