On March 2, a coalition of environmental groups filed a
lawsuit against the Port of Seattle and its board of commissioners to challenge
the port’s approval last month of a lease that opens a container terminal to an
Arctic drilling fleet.
On Feb. 11, the port revealed that on Feb. 9 it had signed a
two-year lease with Foss Maritime that gives Foss the right to short-term
moorage and vessel operations along 50 acres at the port’s 156-acre Terminal 5,
which is currently undergoing renovation.
The lawsuit charges that the lease will change the use of
Terminal 5 by converting it into a homeport for Shell’s Arctic drilling fleet. Earthjustice
filed the challenge in King County Superior Court on behalf of Puget
Soundkeeper Alliance, the Sierra Club, the Washington Environmental Council and
the Seattle Audubon Society.
The lawsuit says, “The lease would allow Shell’s drill ships
to be housed at the port, including the Noble Discoverer which was the subject
of eight felony convictions and over $12 million in fines and community service
last December, including for discharging oil-contaminated water in violation of
water pollution laws.”
The environmental groups allege that the port has violated
its long-range plans and its shoreline permit, which designate Terminal 5 as a
cargo terminal, not a homeport, and say that the port needed to conduct a
public review of the environmental and community impacts of making the change.
“By making a secret deal to house Shell’s Arctic drilling
fleet in Seattle, the port shut out the public and subverted laws that are
designed to foster an informed public assessment of controversial proposals
like this one,” Earthjustice Managing Attorney Patti Goldman said.
In a Feb. 11 letter to stakeholders, Port of Seattle CEO Ted
Fick said the lease is for short-term moorage and vessel operations along 50
acres at the port’s 156-acre Terminal 5, which is currently undergoing
renovation, and that the deal would represent no change of use from the
activities of the previous tenant.
The environmental groups disagree.
“Protecting the health of our waterways begins with
transparency in significant decisions made by our public officials,” Chris
Wilke, executive director of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance said. “Unfortunately
the port missed this mark by a huge margin while ignoring its own stated goals
of sustainability. The Commission’s failure to inform the public about this
back room deal amounts to a breach of trust.”
Under the lease, Foss is to pay $550,000 a month, or $13.17
million, over the full two years. The lease, which includes two one-year
extension options, is part of a push by the port to find an interim use for the
land and keep revenue coming in.
Cargo operations at the terminal were relocated in July 2014
as part of a modernization program under which stronger piers, deeper berths
and other improvements are to be constructed. The terminal’s expected to reopen
in 2018.
