Empire Diversified Energy, Inc. announced today that after an extensive feasibility process with the State of West Virginia, its wholly owned subsidiary Empire Trimodal Terminal, LLC. will be authorized to operate as "The Port of West Virginia."

Frank Rosso, the CEO of Empire Diversified, spoke to the continuing sequence of stages in Empire's plan for business development in West Virginia: "We are very excited about this opportunity to represent the great State of West Virginia. Our plan to build a multifunctional inland water port terminal is already in progress."

Empire recently completed a $26 million bond issuance with the West Virginia Economic Development Authority for Dock and Wharf Development on the Ohio River in Follansbee, WV.  "With over five miles of existing rail on our site and truck access to the Midwest, we intend to expand our current operations by adding a breakbulk container terminal on the South Terminal property."

Current economic conditions have created a positive environment for this type of development: "The completed expansion of the Panama Canal has seen oversize Post Panamax ships (24,000 containers) coming into the United States every day. This expansion has created a need for new inland water terminals to accommodate this increasing traffic and assist in distribution. We believe Empire, through 'The Port of West Virginia,' is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this opportunity, both in terms of inbound and outbound container movement."