 It was once the site of a large coaling port and continues to be the location of a small terminal licensed to handle coal off-loading.Today the site is used for a number of river-related uses including a TDG (now Norbert Dentressangle) depot with around 200 tanks for storage of petrol, distillates, aviation fuel, biofuels, tallow, ethanol, fertilisers, urea etc.The dock was constructed at the site of Dagenham Breach, an area of flooded marsh caused by the breaching of the sea wall in 1707, and repeatedly flooded in the 18th Century.