‘Sometimes we were not sure if we could find a way forward’ as Cherry Point ban is renewed
A six-month ban on unrefined fossil fuel changes in the Cherry Point industrial zone was approved Tuesday, May 18, by the Whatcom County Council. The ban includes filing, accepting or processing new applications for most new or expanded facilities for shipping unrefined fossil fuels that won’t be processed or used at the area west of Ferndale.
Councilmembers Ben Elenbaas and Kathy Kershner opposed the temporary ban.
It’s the 11th such interim measure since September 2016 as the county Planning Commission worked to revamp a comprehensive plan that regulates the types of industry and manufacturing facilities in the Cherry Point industrial zone.
That area is home to oil refineries and related petrochemical operations, and many county officials hope that the region will attract renewable-energy firms and similar sustainable businesses.
Meanwhile, oil company representatives and environmental groups have been meeting since summer 2020 to build consensus over the new rules that would be acceptable to both environmentalists and industry.
Several speakers at an online public hearing Tuesday praised a compromise ordinance that likely will come before the council soon.
“I know that sometimes we were not sure if we could find a way forward but through compromise, we’re almost there,” said union carpenter Brent Jones.
Jones and others urged the council to approve the settlement accord without major changes when it comes forward.
“It’s something that we all can live with,” said Lance Calloway, who was representing an association of general contractors.
“It will be good for our community’s economy, it will be good for our community’s environment and it will be good for our community’s citizens,” he said. “Let’s put this behind this and get moving forward.”
Shannon Wright, executive director of RE Sources, told The Bellingham Herald in an email that the renewed moratorium was “critical to holding the line” on fossil fuel expansion.
“RE Sources and other environmental allies continue to advocate for the Whatcom County Council to adopt the strongest possible permanent protections at Cherry Point — from banning the possibility of fossil fuel power plants, to requiring life cycle analysis for new or expanding energy projects and greenhouse gas mitigation. We back our communities’ calls for the strongest possible protections from the hazards of oil train derailment, tanker spills and other impacts. It’s our hope the county won’t compromise on this front, and take decisive action to protect local residents, the Salish Sea and our climate,” Wright said.
Union electrical worker Barney Smith said environmentalists, labor interests and the fossil-fuel industry offered give and take.
“You know you’ve done a good job when neither side is happy,” Smith said. “We’ve shown the rest of the country that this is how two opposing sides can come together and come up with something that’s going to work for everybody.”
