| County
hearing examiner to rule on pipeline
By
Jack Kintner
Whatcom
Count Hearing Examiner Michael Bobbink will hear closing
arguments in an appeal of a county decision denying Williams
Pipeline’s application
to build a 33-mile pipeline from the Canadian border
to Cherry Point.
The
hearing takes place next Tuesday, September 28 at 1:30
p.m. The hearing examiner will make his decision known
10 days after closing arguments.
Should
the county prevail, the pipeline company is sure to appeal.
The company maintains the county’s role
in permitting is moot as the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) has already ruled months ago that
since the state of Washington missed certain deadlines
for comment on the proposal, they in effect waived the
right to regulate construction through the normal permit
process. The ruling means that most state and local permits
necessary for construction are considered approved, and
that the state even loses its right to make rulings designed
to minimize damage during construction.
Christine
Gregoire, the Washington State Attorney General, filed
an appeal in the 10th District federal court in Denver
last August 27 in which she argued that the state has
met all deadlines and that the FERC acted prematurely
by issuing an approval before environmental permits had
been issued by the state, which is required by federal
law.
County
planners denied the permit because they said it doesn’t meet their requirements for construction
of industrial projects on shorelines and has no benefit
for Whatcom County. The pipeline is intended to cross
Georgia Strait to Vancouver Island to power electrical
plants. |
