Public lands commissioner decries offshore drilling proposal

LONGVIEW, Wash. – Washington Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz has joined other Pacific Northwest officials voicing concern about a Trump administration proposal to sell oil leases off the Washington coast.

The Daily News in Longview reports in a letter sent Thursday to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Acting Director Walter Cruickshank, Franz said offshore drilling in Washington could negatively impact the coastal environment as well as local fishing and shellfish industries.

“The people of Washington State did not ask for offshore drilling and do not want offshore drilling,” Franz wrote. “Our public lands and waters belong to all of us. They are not assets to be plundered, leaving Washingtonians with the mess.”

Her letter comes after Zinke said he wants to open nearly all U.S. coastlines to offshore oil and gas drilling.