WA Dept of Ecology sets conditions for GSX

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Sept. 29, 2004

04-182

Ecology Department sets conditions for Georgia Strait pipeline project

BELLEVUE - While not endorsing the project, the state Department of Ecology (Ecology) has set stringent conditions intended to protect water quality if a proposed pipeline project through Whatcom and San Juan counties advances to the construction phase.

The Georgia Strait Crossing Pipeline (GSX) project would pass through the two counties to deliver natural gas from Canada's mainland to Vancouver Island. Ecology's certification letter describes what project proponents would have to do to protect wetlands, streams, the Strait of Georgia and the bluff and eelgrass beds at Cherry Point during the construction and operation of the pipeline.

"We are not endorsing GSX," said Jeannie Summerhays, Ecology's regional shorelines manager. "This action ensures that the federal government will include state environmental standards and protections if this project does move forward. We're requiring significant protections for several sensitive areas."

Ecology's action is called a "water quality certification," which describes how a proposal can meet state water-quality standards. The GSX project requires a federal water-quality permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. If the Corps decides to issue the permit, it must incorporate the conditions in Ecology's certification.

The deadline for the state's action was today, one year after GSX filed its application.

The proposed pipeline would cross 33 miles on land between Sumas and Cherry Point and continue under water through the Strait of Georgia for 14 miles.

Its path would cross 87 rivers, streams and ditches. Construction would temporarily affect 59 acres of wetland, many of which are farmland, and permanently remove trees and shrubs from three-and-a-half acres of wetland habitat.

Ecology would require GSX to tunnel beneath 23 streams to avoid harming them. GSX also must restore and replant the wetlands along the route after trenching and placing the pipeline, and 16 acres of wetland must be improved to compensate for wetlands that would be damaged.

A one-mile tunnel would begin on land at Cherry Point to pass beneath the bluff, beach and offshore eelgrass beds. Cherry Point Eelgrass is a spawning ground for declining herring stocks, which are an important food for salmon, including threatened species.

The next five miles of underwater pipeline would have to be buried in a trench to reduce barriers to the movement of crabs. The rest of the line would rest on the bottom of the Georgia Strait and require a reinforced concrete coating for protection from trawling gear.

The certification can be appealed within 30 days to the state Pollution Control Hearings Board.

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Contact: Larry Altose, public information officer, 425-649-7009; pager, 206-663-1785

Link to certification: www.ecy.wa.gov