The Vancouver City Council on Monday unanimously agreed to continue a moratorium on establishing or expanding crude oil-handling facilities for another six months.
This is the second time the council has extended the ban, which was originally passed in September. The most recent six-month extension, approved in March, expires Sept. 2. At least one more extension is likely after the new one expires Feb. 17, according to city documents.
The city needs the extra time to evaluate what a future ordinance that regulates oil terminals should look like, Assistant City Attorney Brent Boger said.
“We’re breaking new territory here, at least in Washington state,” he said last week. “We’ve looked at the other municipalities, and it doesn’t look like there’s much out there in actions they’ve taken.”
The city is waiting for the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council to finish its draft environmental impact study for a massive oil transfer terminal proposed by Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies at the Port of Vancouver, Boger said.
Due Nov. 24, the study will delineate the Vancouver Fire Department’s ability to respond to a catastrophic event.
The study also will encompass train traffic, spills, contamination, the water supply and the properties of different types of oil.
EFSEC will make a recommendation to Gov. Jay Inslee regarding the Tesoro project, which the Vancouver City Council formally opposes. The city moratorium doesn’t affect the project, which would be the largest such terminal in the United States when operational and receive an average of 360,000 barrels of crude oil per day by rail at the port.
However, the result of the Tesoro environmental impact study will “weigh heavily” on any regulations the city council decides to adopt regarding crude oil, Boger said. Safety issues would govern the parameters of the ordinance. For instance, the ordinance could authorize the city to charge an oil company a reasonable amount to cover the increased costs of public safety, he said.
NuStar plan also not affected
The moratorium doesn’t affect the NuStar project, either. That project involves receiving crude oil by rail at NuStar Energy’s two bulk tank terminals in Vancouver, at the port and at 5420 Fruit Valley Road, and shipping it out by barge. The city council’s attempts to head off the project with a moratorium were thwarted when NuStar filed its preliminary application Sept. 10, the day before the council’s special meeting to consider the moratorium. NuStar’s last-minute filing means the project is vested and therefore exempt from the council’s temporary ban.
The average amount NuStar would handle daily would be 22,000 barrels, which amounts to about one-third of a unit train. Because the volume falls below the threshold to trigger state review, NuStar’s approval remains in the hands of the city.
City staff expect to have a draft ordinance regulating crude oil facilities in January, but in February, the moratorium probably will be extended another six months while the ordinance moves through the process of public outreach and city Planning Commission review. The city council will review the ordinance and consider it for approval in April and May, according to city documents.
