State Supreme Court will hear crude-by-rail case
The Washington state Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case centered around proposed Grays Harbor crude-by-rail facilities, lawyers for the groups opposed to the facilities announced on Wednesday.
The case originated back in 2013 after the Quinault Indian Nation, Friends of Grays Harbor, Sierra Club, Grays Harbor Audubon and Citizens for a Clean Harbor, among others, challenged the permits granted to Imperium Renewables (now Renewable Energy Group) and Westway Terminals.
The city of Hoquiam and the state Department of Ecology originally issued a mitigated determination of non-significance for the projects, which the groups appealed to the state Shorelines Hearings Board. The board agreed with the opposition, rejecting the Ecology ruling and setting the projects on a path toward environmental impact statement review.
The groups opposed to the projects also believe the facilities should be subject to tighter restrictions under the Ocean Resource Management Act, and filed an appeal on those grounds.
The state Court of Appeals in Tacoma ruled that ORMA didn’t apply to oil shipping terminals. The Supreme Court has now agreed to hear the case.
“We have a state law on the books that demands protection for Washington’s natural ocean resources, particularly in Grays Harbor, and yet the Department of Ecology ignores it,” said Matt Baca, an attorney with Earthjustice, a law firm representing the opposition in the case. “Grays Harbor is beautiful, thriving, and irreplaceable, especially for the people who have depended on it since time immemorial. We are glad this important law will get its day before the Washington State Supreme Court.”
Late last year, Renewable Energy Group decided not to pursue a crude-by-rail facility expansion. US Development, another company eyeing a possible oil terminal at the Port of Grays Harbor in Hoquiam, has also pulled back from its plans, opting out of its lease option with the port on land for the project.
In April, Steven Williams of Westway Terminals said the company would continue to let Ecology work through the permitting process for its proposed oil terminal expansion, though he said he couldn’t specify any immediate plans beyond pursuit of the permits.