Manchester Fuel Facility, Washington
The site currently occupied by the Fuel Department was acquired by the United States Army in 1898 and called Fort Mitchell. Fort Mitchell, initially used for gun emplacements to protect the navigable waterway of Rich Passage, occupied 385 acres. During World War I, the site held a torpedo testing station. The U.S. War Department proposed using the facility for surplus coal storage. The site was developed in 1939 as a petroleum fuel storage facility called U.S. navy Fuel Depot Manchester. The fuel depot received the first petroleum shipments in December 1941 and became an important support facility for fleet and shore unites during World War II.
Expansion of the dept continued throughout the Korean conflict; when it was completed, 38 petroleum storage tanks had been constructed (U.S. navy, May 1987). The total storage capacity of the dept after construction of the last storage capacity of the dept after construction of the last tank was 1.8 million barrels. The facility is the largest DOD storage facility in continental United States. In July, 1961, 17.5 acres were transferred to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare and a further transfer of 22.5 acres occurred in March 1968 to the Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (U.S. Navy, September 26, 1995). In 1970, the depot was reduced to 234 acres by the additional transfer of 111.7 acres to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and was recognized formally as the Manchester Fuel Department of the Naval Supply Center Puget Sound.
Currently, the facility supplies petroleum product to many organizations within the government including all DOD activities, NOAA vessels belonging to the Dept. of Commerce, USCG vessels belonging to the Dept. of Homeland Security. The facility is valued at over $300 million dollars and the product inventory is worth in access of $200 million dollars.