Final Environmental Impact Statement has released

Ecology News: Environmental review completed for Grays Harbor crude oil project

JOINT NEWS RELEASE: City of Hoquiam, Washington Department of Ecology

Sept. 30, 2016

Contacts:

David Bennett, Ecology communications, 360-407-6239, @ecysw

Brian Shay, City of Hoquiam, 360-581-3815

Environmental review completed for Grays Harbor crude oil project

HOQUIAM – The environmental review for the proposed Westway Terminal crude oil expansion project in Grays Harbor is complete. The review identifies impacts stemming from the project proposal, as well as possible mitigation measures.

The city of Hoquiam and Washington Department of Ecology are issuing the final report, officially referred to as the Environmental Impact Statement, after analyzing and responding to 100,000 comments received during public review of the draft version in 2015.

“We have been committed to a transparent, thorough and impartial process since our work on this proposal began,” says Paula Ehlers, section manager for Ecology. “The conclusions of the final study are similar to the draft, but include responses to all comments received, additional information in some sections, and new proposed mitigation.”

The study found that the proposed project would cause significant and unavoidable environmental impacts to health and safety if a crude oil spill, fire or explosion occurs. There are also impacts to tribal resources.

The report proposes 69 mitigation measures to offset or reduce environmental impacts from the project, including using newer rail cars, escort tugs in Grays Harbor, adding response equipment caches in key locations, and coordinating spill response training for local responders and tribes.

The study is not a permit – it is a comprehensive and factual data resource for those who will make decisions during the permitting process. Ten local and state permits, and 11 federal and state plan approvals will be required for the proposed project. The first permit to be considered will be Hoquiam’s shoreline substantial development permit.

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Our Press Release

For Immediate Release

September 30, 2016

FINAL STUDY ON GRAYS HARBOR OIL TERMINAL RELEASED TODAY

Diverse voices call on City of Hoquiam to deny permit for Westway proposal

Contacts:

Larry Thevik, 360-581-3910, Vice-President, Washington Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association

Arnie Martin, 360-580-1961, President, Grays Harbor Audubon

Rebecca Ponzio, 206-240-0493, Director, Stand Up to Oil Campaign

Mark Glyde, 206-227-4346, Resource Media and to contact Quinault Indian Nation

Hoquiam, WA – The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for Westway Terminal Company’s proposed crude-by-rail facility at the Port of Grays Harbor was released today amidst widespread opposition and calls for the City of Hoquiam to deny a permit. After a successful challenge to the original permit, this FEIS has gone through public review with overwhelming opposition. This is the final review stop before the City of Hoquiam can make a permit decision.

The Quinault Indian Nation, commercial fishing interests, local residents and conservation groups are still reviewing the FEIS and will be looking for it to more fully acknowledge the severity of the potential impacts that cannot be mitigated. The draft study underestimated impacts, which include increased risk of derailment, collision, fire and explosion from oil trains, oil spills from rail transport, storage and marine transport by barge and tanker in Grays Harbor, and impacts on tribal resources, including fisheries and fishing access.

“If the study provides a true account of risks to the safety, economy and way of life of tribal members and our Grays Harbor neighbors, the City of Hoquiam will have a clear and defensible choice to deny a permit.” said Fawn Sharp, President of the Quinault Indian Nation (QIN). “The city has a responsibility to keep our communities and shared waters safe and productive, not put them at risk from oil train derailments and oil spills.”

“Our members agree with the judgement of the Washington Attorney General who opposed a proposed oil terminal along the Columbia River after weighing the benefits against the risks of an oil spill. We believe the same is true in Grays Harbor,” said Larry Thevik, Vice-President of the WA Dungeness Crab Fishermen’s Association. “We all know these terminals carry grave risks. A better path than crude oil is to protect and build on our strengths like commercial and recreational fisheries, shellfish aquaculture and tourism.”

The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife stated “Grays Harbor is an area particularly sensitive to the adverse effects of oil spills.” Grays Harbor and surrounding waters support nearly 700 tribal and more than 3,000 non-tribal commercial fishing jobs. A recentstudy by the Greater Grays Harbor Chamber of Commerce found nearly 6,000 tourism-related jobs in the County.

“Clean beaches, birds and wildlife, scenic beauty and recreation opportunities are not only some of our most important economic assets, they also the reasons many of us choose to live, work and play in Grays Harbor County,” said Arnie Martin, President of Grays Harbor Audubon. “We know from experiences like the catastrophic Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico that one major oil spill is one too many.”

The Grays Harbor Wildlife Refuge is visited by hundreds of thousands of shorebirds annually. In 1989, the Nestucca barge holed off Grays Harbor spilling 231,000 gallons of marine bunker oil, killing or injuring an estimated 68,000 seabirds. The oil sheen was seen from Oregon to the Strait of Juan De Fuca.

The fiery oil train derailment in Mosier, Oregon was a dramatic demonstration of the far reaching dangers of crude-by-rail proposals in the Northwest. Oil trains bound for Grays Harbor would travel through communities along the rail line from Hoquiam to Chehalis and through Vancouver, the Columbia River Gorge and Spokane.

“These proposals a huge step backwards – they risk irrevocable harm to our communities and waterways and take us in the in the wrong direction for our climate,” said Rebecca Ponzio, director of the Stand Up To Oil campaign. “People across the Pacific Northwest have spoken: don’t sacrifice our health, livelihoods, and resources for the benefit of the oil industry.”

In a September 7  letter to the Washington Dept. of Ecology and City of Hoquiam leaders, the Quinault Indian Nation summarized the strong legal grounds the city has for denying a permit under the State Environmental Policy Act, Public Trust Doctrine that protects access and resource use of publicly owned navigable waters and tidelands, and the Quinault’s federally-reserved treaty fishing and gathering rights.

Washington State faces a proliferation of proposals for fossil fuel infrastructure—notably coal export and oil transport, as well as an expansion of oil by rail to existing refineries. If these proposals move forward, the region’s rail system face extreme strain and a significant increase in the amount of oil tanker traffic through Washington waters is expected.

While several projects have recently been defeated or withdrawn, significant proposals remain in play. In addition to the Longview and Grays Harbor proposals, Tesoro-Savage – the largest proposed oil by rail facility in North America – and one other terminal, NuStar, are proposed in Vancouver, WA.  There is also a proposal to increase the oil-by-rail capacity of the Shell Oil Refinery in Anacortes.

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