After 11 six-month bans on Cherry Point industry changes, Whatcom County Council ready to act
A new focus away from the fossil fuels produced at the two Cherry Point industrial zone oil refineries will be considered Tuesday by the Whatcom County Council as a series of Comprehensive Plan amendments.
Council members will hold a public hearing on the proposed amendments and likely vote on the 57-page document when they meet online at 6 p.m. July 27, according to the meeting’s published agenda.
Tuesday’s action is the result of more than five years of effort as Whatcom County staff and appointed and elected officials examined the kinds of industry and manufacturing that will be allowed in the 7,000-acre area west of Ferndale.
That time period included 11 six-month bans on 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 Cherry Point, as part of an effort to limit refinery expansion.
It was a divisive process that often pitted the oil industry against the environmental movement.
And it fueled expensive battles for political control of the Whatcom County Council and the County Executive’s Office.
But talks took a key step forward after the appointed county Planning Commission approved the Cherry Point amendments and a “stakeholder group” of business and environmental interests began meeting to build a consensus over its final wording.
“From the onset of the process five years ago, the County Council had set forth clear aims for new rules that would allow improvements of existing refineries while restricting facilities’ use for transshipment of fossil fuels,” said Eddy Ury, a candidate for County Council who led the stakeholders group for several months while he was with the environmental nonprofit RE Sources for Sustainable Communities.
“These dual purposes proved to be challenging to balance in lawmaking without overstepping authority. The stakeholder group came together at the point where our respective interests were best served by cooperating,” Ury told The Bellingham Herald in an email.
Successful compromise
Councilwoman Kathy Kershner said that she intends to vote for the amendments.
“I think the stakeholder working group was very successful in coming to an agreed-upon compromise,” Kershner told The Herald.
“This is about stopping coal exports. I’m happy to support it. (Oil interests) feel at least like they’ve been heard,” Kershner said.
County Council Chairman Barry Buchanan also praised the process and the working group’s ability to reach an understanding.
“It’s a process that we’ve used before,” Buchanan told The Herald. “It’s the model that we need to move forward with. They don’t solve every issue. But we’ve got a great perspective.”
Many of those who work in the area have praised the stakeholder process in County Council meetings over the past several months.
“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 at a County Council hearing May 18.
Jones and others urged the council to approve the amendments without major changes.
“It’s something that we all can live with,” said Lance Calloway, who was representing an association of general contractors.
Blueprint for limiting expansion
RE Sources spokesman Simon Bakke called the code amendments a blueprint that local governments can use to limit expansion of the fossil fuel industry.
“Five years ago, the fossil fuel industry proposed using Cherry Point as a way station for coal, oil, and gas exports to Asia that would have doubled the total number of carbon emissions in Washington state,” Bakke told The Herald in an email. “Soon, these kinds of fossil fuel projects — along with others — will be permanently prohibited.”
As submitted, the Cherry Point amendments allow the two refineries to continue operating.
It defines the Cherry Point region’s importance to the environment and to its indigenous peoples.
And it spells out a broad range of manufacturing sectors that would be allowed, from textiles to boat-building and marijuana farms, and which ones would require special consideration, such as a conditional-use permit.
It also defines the environmental considerations for new industry development and prohibits certain kinds of factories — such as rubber, chemicals or plastics.
No more industrial piers will be allowed, as well as no coal-fired energy plants.
And no more oil refineries will be permitted.
“There are currently five oil refineries in Washington state,” the Cherry Point document says. “Two are in Whatcom County, two are in Skagit County, and one in Pierce County. Whatcom County has approximately 3% of the state’s population, but 40% of the state’s refineries. The county has accepted its fair share of such facilities in the state and region and wants to limit the local impacts on the community and environment of further concentration of such facilities.”
Recognizes economic importance
Further, the new amendments recognize the region’s importance to Whatcom County’s overall economy.
“Cherry Point shall be designated as an unincorporated industrial urban-growth area in recognition of existing large-scale industrial land uses,” the document says.
“Additional large scale development shall be encouraged consistent with the ability to provide needed services and consistent with protecting critical areas along with other environmental protection considerations. The Cherry Point industrial area is an important and appropriate area for industry due to its access to deep-water shipping, rail, all-weather roads, its location near the Canadian border, and its contribution to the county’s goal of providing family-wage jobs,” it says.
Ury said the talks focused on “common goals” shared by all members.
“We succeeded in making the legislation more effective all-around — more protective of the environment and more restrictive in key aspects, yet also more favorable to industry overall in making their permitting process more predictable,” he said.
