More than 80 years ago, the Union Oil Company of California began operations in Edmonds. Fuel arrived by ship at the Port of Edmonds. From there, it was pumped to storage tanks atop a steep hill. Tank trucks and rail cars would fill up from the tanks, and from there distribute petroleum products to gas stations throughout the greater Seattle region. Another petroleum by-product, asphalt, was produced at the Unocal Edmonds site for over 25 years. Asphalt was a key component for street and road building as well as for roof shingles.
Dozens of workers were needed at the Edmonds site to coordinate the activities needed to keep the fuel terminal operating—logistics experts, expediters, scientists, longshoremen, maintenance workers, managers, salesmen, and office staff. Over the decades of its operations, Unocal Edmonds provided employment and livelihood to hundreds of Edmonds area residents.
In 1991, Unocal stopped all fuel storage and distribution activities in Edmonds. Chevron's Environmental Management Company (EMC) is now responsible for environmental cleanup of the site.
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