The proposed Vancouver Energy oil terminal took another step closer to a decision point on Tuesday.
The Washington state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council approved a draft notice of the construction air permit for the proposed terminal during a special meeting in Olympia.
The evaluation council is expected to release the draft permit — a technical support document which lists emissions, its potential to emit and the regulations that are being applied to the facility — and an attachment on testing protocol document Wednesday afternoon.
The release will trigger a 30-day public comment period. The details of a public hearing to be held in Vancouver are also expected to be released, said evaluation council spokeswoman Anna Gill.
Commonly called the clean air permit, the notice of construction air permit is required for new businesses, companies that require emission-control equipment or are increasing their air-pollutant emissions. The permit’s goal is to make sure the sources of air pollution are established in a way that conforms with state air-quality regulations. It must be acquired before the facility can be built.
According to the evaluation council staff, the draft permit includes details that Vancouver Energy claims it will have a 99.89 percent emissions capture efficiency rating based off of guidance provided by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
If Vancouver Energy’s terminal is approved, it would be built at the Port of Vancouver. It would transfer Bakken oil from about four trains a day, pulling 120 cars, onto marine vessels bound for refineries along the West Coast. At full operation, it would be capable of handling up to 360,000 barrels of crude oil a day, making it the largest rail-to-marine transfer terminal in the U.S.
In October, Vancouver Energy — a joint venture between Tesoro Corp. and Savage Cos. — offered to operate at half-capacity until it proves that it can be run safely.
Vancouver Energy spokesman Jeff Hymas said the company hasn’t seen the draft permit yet and declined to comment on the document right away.
“We look forward to reviewing the draft air permit when it’s published by (the evaluation council),” he said.
Opponents of the project are also waiting to see it, but they remain skeptical of Vancouver Energy’s high capture efficiency claim.
“We know enough to know Tesoro is asking for a minor permit, and that’s not correct,” Dan Serres of the Columbia Riverkeeper said of the clean air permit. “We’ll want to see how they purport to justify that in the application. We know this will be a major polluter for the air in Vancouver.”
The evaluation council acts as a one-stop shop for large energy project permits, but it often contracts with other organizations. The Southwest Clean Air Agency worked on the clean air permit as a contractor for the evaluation council.
The draft air permit’s release is one more milestone on a long road through the evaluation process that has gone on for just under four years. Vancouver Energy’s fifth application extension with the evaluation council is set to expire in June. The state law that mandates the evaluation process requires it to be completed within a year.
The law requires an applicant to cover the costs of the evaluation process. To date, Tesoro has paid the evaluation council $8.95 million.
The evaluation council is expected to make a recommendation to approve or deny the project within the next several months. Gov. Jay Inslee will then use the recommendation to decide the terminal’s ultimate fate.
