The state agency overseeing permitting for the oil terminal proposed at the Port of Vancouver approved a fourth application extension Tuesday, though the agency chairman rebuked those who have called the state process “broken.”
“When public officials are saying in a meeting we are purposely trying to delay the process for whatever reason … well, frankly, I think it says more to their character than it does to ours,” said Bill Lynch, chairman of the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. “We have been working in good faith to ensure a proper vetting.”
Lynch was referring to Friday’s Port of Vancouver meeting, where commissioners derided the council’s drawn-out process while approving their own deadline extension for the environmental review of what would be the nation’s largest rail-to-marine oil terminal.
State law says the evaluation council is supposed to take only one year before sending a recommendation to the governor, who has final say; Vancouver Energy proposed the oil terminal in 2013.
Vancouver Energy, a joint venture between Tesoro Corp. and Savage Cos., has itself been accused of failing to meet requirements and delaying the process. The council wrote last year to Vancouver Energy, saying the company’s first environmental impact statement did not “meet even the basic requirements for fully describing and analyzing project impacts.”
Lynch chided Vancouver Energy again Tuesday, saying the council is waiting for further information on several permits.
Responding to a letter from the company claiming the council hadn’t sent schedules, Lynch responded: “There have been regular meetings between our staff and theirs about what needs to be done. This seems to indicate — you could knock me over with a feather — frankly that’s just darned annoying.”
The council approved the extension request unanimously on Tuesday. That will let the permitting process continue until Nov. 1, although it isn’t clear if the governor will have made a decision by then.
While the environmental review is being finalized, the council is preparing for adjudication — trial-like hearings that will run from late June through July.
The rail-to-marine terminal would handle 360,000 barrels of oil per day. The lease amendment the Port of Vancouver approved Friday is still awaiting an OK from Vancouver Energy.
Brooks Johnson: 360-735-4547; brooks.johnson@columbian.com; twitter.com/readbrooks
