Judge to rule on pipeline shoreline permit

Separate case to decide state, local authority goes before appeals court today

John Stark
The Bellingham Herald

Whatcom County Hearing Examiner Michael Bobbink said Tuesday that he would issue a ruling within 10 days on a shoreline permit for a $248 million natural gas pipeline that would cut across Whatcom County on its way to Vancouver Island.

Bobbink could choose to reject or accept the shoreline permit, or he could rule that the project needs to get a major development permit, which would require review by the Whatcom County Council. But Bobbink and attorneys on both sides of the issue agreed that the fate of the project could be settled in court.

Bobbink concluded the public hearing Tuesday on the shoreline permit after hearing attorneys' arguments. Steve Snarr, the attorney arguing the case for the Georgia Strait Crossing Project, said his clients believe they no longer need project permits from Whatcom County or the state of Washington. That's because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled last April that the Washington Department of Ecology had missed deadlines for reviewing the project, and thereby waived state and local authority.

The state and the county are now appealing FERC's ruling. Whatcom County Chief Civil Deputy Prosecutor Randy Watts said the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver will hear the matter today but is not expected to issue an immediate ruling.

During Tuesday's hearing, Watts debated the question of the pipeline's economic benefit to Whatcom County with Snarr and project manager Lynn Henrie.

Snarr and Henrie said the pipeline, which will cross 33 miles of the county from Sumas to Cherry Point before moving underwater, could eventually supply natural gas for industrial development at Cherry Point.

Watts argued that Williams Pipeline Co. and B.C. Hydro are proposing the project to fuel generating plants on Vancouver Island. Future benefits to Whatcom County are speculative, he said.

Henrie said that the pipeline would have to add a powerful compressor unit at Sumas to increase capacity to provide significant additional gas supplies for present or future Whatcom County industries.

Watts said doing that would mean changing the nature of the project and adding noise impacts in the Sumas area that have not yet undergone regulatory scrutiny.

The only certain benefit to the county, he added, would be tax revenue from the pipeline project, and he contended that was nowhere near enough to justify the negative environmental impacts to the shoreline and the rest of the county under state and local regulations.

During a brief question period, one audience member asked why Whatcom County should have to put up with a pipeline meant to get natural gas from one part of Canada to another. Henrie replied that nearly all of the natural gas used by Whatcom County comes from Canada, and pipelines cross Canadian territory to serve the United States.

Reach John Stark at 715-2274 or john.stark@bellinghamherald.com.