Gabby Brown, gabby.brown@sierraclub.org
Todd Hay, todd.hay.act@gmail.com
Tacoma, WA -- Advocates for a Cleaner Tacoma filed a lawsuit today challenging the Washington State Department of Ecology’s issuance of a key permit for Puget Sound Energy’s (PSE) proposed fracked gas facility in the Port of Tacoma. The Sierra Club is supporting the legal challenge to the project as an “interested party.”
The lawsuit, filed in Thurston County, Washington, claims that Ecology violated the State Environmental Policies Act (SEPA) by issuing a water quality certification for the controversial project without a thorough analysis of the facility’s climate emissions and other environmental impacts. Ecology recognized its responsibility to examine these factors under SEPA with its denial in 2017 of the same certification for the Millennium Bulk Terminals proposal in Longview, on the basis of its threats to the environment as well as tribal and cultural resources.
“Ecology has a legal responsibility to consider the full environmental impacts of proposed fossil fuel projects, and Tacoma LNG is no exception,” said Sierra Club Campaign Representative Stephanie Hillman. “It is unacceptable to allow this massive fracked gas facility to be built in our state without considering the threat to our communities and our climate.”
The project has faced significant local opposition because it would dramatically increase greenhouse gas emissions in Washington State, as well as threatening the health and safety of the Puyallup people, whose Medicine Creek Treaty rights would be violated by construction of the proposed 8 million-gallon gas plant directly adjacent to their reservation.
“Given all of the recent international and national level reporting concerning the severity of the climate crisis and even Governor Inslee’s recent change of heart on the Tacoma LNG project, it is of the utmost importance that the Department of Ecology fulfill its responsibility and complete a full lifecycle climate impact analysis,” says Advocates for a Cleaner Tacoma President Todd Hay.
This spring, Governor Inslee withdrew his previous support for the project, citing the contribution of new fossil fuel infrastructure to the climate crisis. However, the facility is currently being built, despite not having the necessary air quality permit from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. PSE has ignored numerous requests from local groups to halt this illegal construction.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.