Hearing Examiner Rejects Permit That Allowed a Major Expansion of a Whatcom County Liquefied Petroleum Gas Terminal

Hearing Examiner Rejects Permit That Allowed a Major Expansion of a Whatcom County Liquefied Petroleum Gas Terminal 

The county must conduct an independent capacity analysis of the terminal expansion and redo its environmental analysis.

Contacts

Elizabeth Manning, Earthjustice, [email protected]

The Whatcom County Hearing Examiner sided with six local environmental groups in ruling that the County mishandled its review of a series of expansions of a liquefied petroleum gas facility near Bellingham. The groups charged that the Ferndale Terminal at Cherry Point significantly and illegally expanded its capacity to ship fuels without first studying the environmental impacts, as required by Washington state law.  

The Hearing Examiner's decision is a victory for local conservation organizations, who filed an appeal last year challenging the county permitting decision that approved the expansions at the fossil fuel facility owned by the Canadian corporation AltaGas (ALA Energy), without first requiring an environmental study. The groups, represented by Earthjustice, include Friends of the San Juans, Whatcom Environmental Council, Evergreen Islands, Washington Conservation Action, Sierra Club, and RE Sources. The decision effectively blocks permits for two new and 31 past unpermitted projects at the Ferndale Terminal, halting future work and a surge in shipping, until Whatcom County redoes its flawed analysis of the terminal's expansion.  

The groups demonstrated at a hearing in January that the facility's expansion, done piecemeal over time, poses significant threats to the community and the surrounding Salish Sea marine environment. Those threats include increased greenhouse gas emissions, potential explosions and petroleum spills, impacts from increased rail and ship traffic, such as accidents and collisions with marine wildlife, and air and water pollution. In addition, vessel noise from increased traffic and habitat loss could harm wildlife while habitat loss could result in further declines to herring, an important prey species for endangered salmon and orcas.  The Hearing Examiner's ruling concluded that "it is substantively probable that an increase in marine traffic would have an impact on [Southern Resident Killer Whales] without mitigation."

The organizations also showed during the hearing that the company had improperly miscalculated how extensive construction work expanded its capacity.  The Hearing Examiner agreed, finding that the company's interpretation "would defeat all of the policy intents" of the Whatcom County Council to regulate fossil fuel transshipment. The decision also faults the County for accepting the company's analysis without applying its own expertise.

With the decision issued late yesterday, these impacts must be further studied before the facility can complete additional work. The facility receives, stores, and exports liquefied propane and butane domestically and globally via rail, truck, pipeline and ship.  

Following are statements by the local environmental groups and Earthjustice: 

"Our team and partners worked day and night on this appeal because of the long-term risks this illegal expansion poses to the Salish Sea and surrounding communities," said Eva Schulte, Friends of the San Juans' Executive Director, "We are pleased the Whatcom County Hearing Examiner is requiring further study, and hope the County will do more to prevent fossil fuel expansion at the terminal until adverse consequences to human, water, and endangered Southern Resident killer whales are understood and addressed." 

"Whatcom Environmental Council applauds the ruling and thanks the Hearing Examiner. AltaGas egregiously ignored community and legal concerns while illegally pursuing expansions," said Rodd Pemble, President of WEC."The WEC looks forward to seeing that compliance with local codes and regulations by industrial users at Cherry Point and elsewhere in Whatcom County happens before development - not after." 

"The law says counties need to be honest with the community about the risks and impacts of projects like this one," said Jan Hasselman, Senior Attorney at Earthjustice. "This terminal has a shameful history of skirting the law, and it's about time they were held to account." 

Background

AltaGas bought the Ferndale terminal in 2014 with the goal of expanding its ability to receive, store, and import and export propane and butane.  

Between 2016 and 2021, the Whatcom County Council enacted temporary moratoriums designed specifically to prevent major fossil fuel expansion at Cherry Point terminals, including AltaGas' ALA Energy Ferndale Terminal. The intent was to prevent the area from transforming into a high-volume import and export hub that would increase climate, environmental and safety threats.  

Despite this moratorium, AltaGas advanced 31 projects at the terminal that, taken as a whole, significantly expand its operations. AltaGas built most of these projects without seeking permits or disclosing their true intent. These expansions also led to hundreds of tons of illegal air emissions.  

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