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After almost 30 years as a tenant at the Port of Astoria, heavy civil marine, dredging and environmental contractor J.E. McAmis is pulling up ties and moving upriver to Longview.

Scott Vandegrift, project manager for J.E. McAmis, said his company decided to relocate operations to Washington state after failing to reach an agreement for a long-term lease with the port.

鈥淲e’ve been back and forth trying to secure a long-term lease, but it never worked out for everybody,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen this opportunity came along, and we thought it was a good one and jumped on it.鈥�

That new opportunity was the acquisition of 122 acres at the West Coast Marine facility near the mouth of the Cowlitz River where it joins the Columbia River at Longview.

Vandegrift said J.E. McAmis was one of the Port of Astoria’s best tenants, leasing 8,000 square feet of warehouse space, tarmac space at the airport, upland space and pier space on the Columbia River.

鈥淚 believe we were one of the highest-paying tenants the port had, one of its biggest tenants,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s kind of sad to go; it’s a lovely community.鈥�

But Port of Astoria Executive Director Jim Knight said he will have no problems finding a new tenant.

鈥淲e never like to lose customers, but we have no issues or trouble trying to find new tenants,鈥� Knight said. 鈥淭hey’ve been here a long time but are moving for their operations. For us, it’s a drop in the bucket.鈥�

The move from Astoria to Longview will be completed by the fall, Vandegrift said, and will include a fleet of barges, tug boats, cranes and other heavy equipment.

鈥淭he move is pretty significant,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’ve been in Astoria for close to 30 years.鈥�

However, the Longview location offers “a lot of potential” because it has more land available for development than what was available in Astoria, Vandegrift said.

About a dozen people who work for J.E. McAmis in Astoria are all residents of that city and will commute to the new site, Vandergrift said.

The new location at the mouth of the Cowlitz will give J.E. McAmis a much more centralized location on the Columbia River, said company founder and president, John E. McAmis, in a statement.

The company’s Pacific Northwest operations will remain heavily focused on supporting the U.S. Corps of Engineers on the West Coast, the Columbia-Snake River Basin and in Alaska, McAmis said, but the move will help the company expand its private market base. J.E. McAmis’ work includes dredging, dam rehabilitation, heavy and high-lift services, dive supported construction and environmental restoration.

To aid in completing the $300 million North Jetty Critical Repairs Project at the mouth of the Columbia River for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, McAmis’ company has acquired many new cranes, barges and support equipment. McAmis said he believes the new equipment 鈥� along with 鈥渆xceptional鈥� highway, rail and barge access to the new location near Longview 鈥� will give his company an advantage in securing more jetty projects in the future.