By Karen Robes Meeks
The site certification application for the Vancouver Energy project at the Port of Vancouver USA was rejected Monday by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
Inslee concurred with the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council’s (EFSEC) earlier recommendation to reject the application.
“After considering all of the evidence in the record, the Council found that the risks of siting the proposed project at the Port of Vancouver exceeded the project’s potential benefits and determined that the application is not in the public interest,” Inslee wrote in a letter to EFSEC Chair Kathleen Drew.
After the council rejected the application, the port was not surprised by the governor’s decision, said port CEO Julianna Marler. “Our mission continues to be providing economic benefit to our community through leadership, stewardship and partnership in marine, industrial and waterfront development,” she said. “We appreciate the Governor’s recognition of our important role in regional trade and we will continue to fulfill that role.”
The project—a joint venture between Andeavor, formerly Tesory Corp. and Savage Companies—would involve building and operating a terminal that could take up to 360,000 barrels of crude oil delivered daily by rail and store it before transferring it onto vessels bound for West Coast refineries, where it would become transportation fuel and other byproducts for US consumers.
