Tacoma LNG facility gains permit approval from clean air agency after long, hard fight
The Tacoma liquefied natural gas facility being built by Puget Sound Energy at the Port of Tacoma has cleared a final construction hurdle.
On Tuesday, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency announced on its website that it had completed its review of the facility’s notice of construction application, including public comments, and “made a final determination that the proposal meets all the requirements of Agency Regulations I, II and III and should be approved.”
In a separate statement, titled “Final Decision on Tacoma LNG Air Permit,” executive director Craig Kenworthy said that while approval of a permit application “is not an endorsement of a project,” the agency determined that “the application meets standards set by applicable laws and regulations as of when the application was submitted to the agency.”
“In this case, after a careful and lengthy review, we determined that the NOC permit meets those standards, and we are required to issue the permit,” Kenworthy said. “The final permit includes conditions which require demonstration of compliance with emission limits set through this review.”
Puget Sound Energy, in an emailed statement to The News Tribune, said: “We appreciate PSCAA’s work on the air quality permit for the Tacoma LNG Facility.
“Now, we can move forward on a facility that will bring cleaner air to Tacoma, help reduce greenhouse gases and ensure our customers’ homes stay warm on the coldest days of the year.”
Getting to this point has been contentious, not only at Tacoma City Council meetings, but also at PSCAA’s public hearings in Tacoma leading to Tuesday’s determination, the most recent one held in August.
“Puget Sound Clean Air Agency’s approval of this fracked gas facility is completely unacceptable,” said Sierra Club campaign representative and Power Past Fracked Gas coalition co-director Stephanie Hillman, in a statement Tuesday. “Communities in Tacoma and across the state oppose this project because it represents a clear danger to our lands, water, air and community health. We will continue to fight to ensure that this dirty, dangerous fracked gas plant is never completed.”
Kenworthy noted that the agency was not in a position to factor in those surrounding issues.
“There are many other issues around this proposal that we are not authorized to pass judgment on,” Kenworthy said. “Water quality impacts or offsite safety issues are just two examples.”
He further defended the agency’s decision, noting, “In the comments we received, we heard a lot about climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. Parts of that were debated by the applicant and the opponents. While the Agency agrees that addressing climate change is an urgent issue, as a regulatory agency, that urgency does not allow us to ignore our obligations to follow the law in making this particular determination.”
PSE, in its statement, defended the project, saying: “When replacing diesel fuel, LNG reduces sulphur dioxide emissions by over 98 percent, harmful particulate matter produced by ships by more than 85 percent, nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide emissions by nearly 85 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 15 percent. The Tacoma LNG facility is also a critical tool in keeping our customers’ homes heated on the coldest days of the year.”
The Port of Tacoma also spoke in support of the decision, noting, “Our commitment to reducing air emissions and creating a safer environment for our community remains one of our top priorities.
”We look forward to the next steps for this project.”
Reaction was fast and forthright among those who had led opposition to the LNG site, notably representatives of the Puyallup Tribe.
“The Puyallup Tribe of Indians is disappointed in Puget Sound Clean Air Agency’s decision,” the tribal council said in a statement. “We are reviewing the determination and will take appropriate actions.”
“From the beginning, PSE engaged in a deceptive marketing campaign of promoting LNG as a soundbite-friendly ‘transition fuel,’” the council stated. “PSE originally proposed Tacoma LNG as primarily a storage facility that would help meet peak demand for natural gas in the winter for heating needs.
“Since that time, however, there have been two major developments: PSE drastically reduced the end-use LNG from the project to meet peak shaving needs; and Washington enacted SB-5116, requiring utilities like PSE to rapidly decarbonize their energy mix.
“This substantial change to the project and new legislation indicate that Tacoma LNG simply is not needed for the very reason PSE proposed it: peak-shaving. The changes to the facility have escaped environmental review, and the facility as now proposed has positioned Tacoma as a dangerous fossil fuel anchor holding us back from a sustainable future.”
It added, “Beyond the grave safety risks of explosion hazards, Tacoma LNG would also expose inhabitants of the South Sound to hazardous and toxic air pollutant emissions, adding to the pollution burden in an already heavily burdened area. It is disappointing that PSCAA has decided to issue a permit without first analyzing the environmental justice impacts that Tacoma LNG would cause.”
The decision came the same day that the tribal council declare a climate emergency, ahead of a Tuesday evening City Council resolution to make a similar declaration.
Appeals on the decision, if filed, would be heard by the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board in Olympia.
More on the decision: https://pscleanair.gov/460/Current-Permitting-Projects
This story was originally published December 10, 2019 at 4:40 PM with the headline "Tacoma LNG facility gains permit approval from clean air agency after long, hard fight."
