The pressure is on for a dozen property owners in the way of the Port of Tacoma's plans for a new $300 million, 168-acre shipping container terminal on the Blair Waterway. The port recently filed condemnation actions against those property owners to speed up the scheduling of a court date should the negotiations to purchase land from the owners go awry.

The port needs the property by mid-2009 to begin construction on a new shipping container terminal for Toyko-based NYK Line. Port officials say the terminal will generate 3,000 jobs during construction and 3,200 jobs statewide once it is operational. The terminal will have an annual capacity of up to 1.8 million TEUs (20-foot container units).

Property owners in the path of the project were surprised by the port's condemnation filings. Joe Guizzetti, CEO of Buffelen Door, tells the News Tribune of Tacoma, "We'd signed the commitment letter, and we were told that we would avoid litigation."