The companies behind a proposed oil transfer terminal at the Port of Vancouver on Friday asked for “reasonable conditions and limitations” on more than a dozen entities who have declared their intent to intervene in the project’s upcoming judicial trial.
The filing by Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies comes one week after a wide array of groups filed petitions to take part in the adjudicative process that will help determine the fate of the project known as Vancouver Energy. Most of those groups — among them environmental groups, cities and Native American tribes — have already stated their opposition to the project.
A response filed Friday by attorneys representing Tesoro and Savage said the companies don’t necessarily object to those parties intervening in the process, “provided their involvement will not delay the proceedings and an efficient and effective adjudication can be achieved.” The companies requested that each petitioner be required to submit in advance a list of legal issues they’d like to address, and demonstrate their standing to raise such issues. Petitioners should be limited to issues in which they have a particular interest or expertise, the companies argued.
Tesoro and Savage suggested that the groups be required to coordinate or consolidate their participation in the process.
The requests were made to the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, which is currently reviewing the Vancouver Energy project. The council will eventually make a recommendation to Gov. Jay Inslee, who holds final say. The decision could, however, be appealed to the Washington State Supreme Court.
Tesoro and Savage want to build an oil transfer terminal at the Port of Vancouver capable of handling about 360,000 barrels of crude per day. Oil would arrive by rail before being transferred to marine vessels en route to other West Coast facilities. If built, Vancouver Energy would be the largest such facility in the United States.
Tesoro and Savage first submitted their application to the state in August 2013. A total of 15 groups filed to intervene in the latest stage of the review process:
• Earthjustice, on behalf of the following eight groups: Columbia Riverkeeper, Climate Solutions, ForestEthics, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, Vancouver’s Fruit Valley Neighborhood Association, Sierra Club, Spokane Riverkeeper and Washington Environmental Council.
• The city of Washougal.
• The city of Spokane.
• The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission.
• Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation.
• Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
• Columbia Waterfront LLC, the company proposing a $1.3 billion residential/commercial redevelopment of Vancouver’s waterfront.
• The International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s Local 4 in Vancouver.
Those groups have until March 11 to respond to Friday’s filing by Tesoro and Savage.
