Quinault lawyers: Hoquiam could prevent proposed oil terminals

Quinault lawyers: City could prevent proposed oil terminals 

By Kyle Mittan    The Daily World    3/24/15

As the City of Hoquiam works through a process to adopt an ordinance preventing future oil facilities within the city, a legal opinion from attorneys representing the Quinault Indian Nation suggests that the city could prevent the three already-proposed oil terminals currently under consideration.

Hoquiam Mayor Jack Durney pushed for the ordinance that would make it difficult for future oil storage facilities in Hoquiam, but he has said the city’s hands are essentially tied in terms of the three projects that have already requested permits. Those three are grandfathered by the city’s existing zoning ordinances, he has said. The council at Monday night’s meeting moved to hold a workshop on an ordinance to address future requests. It is set for April 20, to decide what the council would like to include in an ordinance, said City Administrator Brian Shay.....

 ...The meeting on Monday night allowed for a public hearing about the ordinance, which drew comments largely from crude-oil opponents. Leonard Barnes, the Port’s deputy executive director, attended the meeting but did not give public comment.

Among those to comment was Aberdeen councilman Alan Richrod, who commended the city’s decision to put an ordinance in place. “Grays Harbor, Washington could — if we want — be a place where the world comes to see how sustainable industry and sustainable management of property happens,” he said.

During the meeting, oil opponents raised concerns stemming from an open letter from Earthjustice, a San Francisco-based environmental law firm whose Seattle office represents the Quinault Indian Nation.

The letter, addressed to Fawn Sharp, the Nation’s president, suggests that the three oil terminals with pending applications that the city had grandfathered in with the moratorium could legally be denied by the city, citing a series of cases as precedent and other regulations, including the Shoreline Management Authority Act.

Arnie Martin, a member with Citizens for a Clean Harbor, sent the letter to a selection of council members and Mayor Jack Durney. Durney said during the meeting that he hadn’t had time to read the letter.

Ward 2 Councilman Richard Pennant, an outspoken opponent of crude-oil facilities, asked fellow council members to provide their thoughts on the letter.

But Durney pointed out that the letter was indeed opinion, and that everyone on the council ought to have a chance to read it before talking about it as a council.,,,,  more here

'Small' Oil Spills Can Add Up To Big Costs 

kuow.org   Editor      03/23/15

......Though they don’t always make headlines, 95 percent of oil spills in the U.S. are relatively small -- less than the size of a tanker truck you might see on the highway. Washington State’s Department of Ecology responds to about 400 oil spills a year, nearly all of them a few thousand gallons or less....

....“Even though 2-3,000 gallons of oil may not seem like a lot where it’s in aggregate form, in a tank, when it spreads out over the water, it can get into the weeds, into the cattails,” Lewis says. That makes cleanup a much more complicated undertaking.

All told, the U.S. spends almost $3 billion annually cleaning up spills on lakes, rivers, and streams. That’s the equivalent of one Exxon Valdez cleanup every single year.....   more here

 

 

Fraser Surrey Docks seeks to pump coal waste water into Metro Vancouver’s sewer system

Coal terminal would use settling ponds to treat water for re-use, but excess water would be piped to Annacis Island sewage plant  - By Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun