From Stark
In a letter to Gov. Chris Gregoire, Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike says the state, not the county, should be the lead agency in the State Environmental Policy Act review of the Gateway Pacific Terminal coal and bulk cargo pier proposed for Cherry Point by SSA Marine of Seattle.
Pike posted the letter on the city website moments ago. An excerpt:
“I request that you direct your department heads and encourage the Department of Natural Resources to assert lead agency status, to ensure this proposal gets full and transparent review of all significant impacts.”
Among other things, Pike’s letter to the governor expresses concern that Whatcom County planners will accept SSA Marine’s contention that it needs a mere modification of its 1997 shoreline permit for the project, which potentially means that the environmental scrutiny of shoreline issues would be conducted under less stringent rules in effect in 1992, when SSA originally applied for the 1997 permit.
“My team is concerned that the SEPA review will not include the best available science required by the County’s more modern Shoreline Management Master Program, adopted by the Department of Ecology in 2008,” Pike’s letter says.
In a brief telephone interview, Pike said he doesn’t know how the county will react, but he suggested they might welcome the handoff of lead agency status to state agencies.
“It lets the county off the hook from having to be in the crosshairs on this,” Pike said.
As of now, I’m still waiting to hear from the Whatcom County Planning Department on this.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the relevant state law on revisions of shoreline permits.
Oh boy! There goes Kremen’s blood pressure.
Maybe handing off responsibility to the state would actually be good for Pete’s blood pressure. I dunno. I have called him to get his reaction.
Don’t hold the phone too close to your ear, John.
Frankly, I’m stunned that Dan Pike would make this move without discussing it with the county first. I’ve heard he doesn’t play nice in the sandbox, but this is ridiculous. It makes us look like the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing.
I find it both ironic and disingenuous that Mayor Pike is “concerned that the SEPA review [for the Gateway Pacific Terminal] will not include the best available science;” but he failed to require best available science when the City reviewed the Fairhaven Highlands project. Worse, for the Fairhaven Highlands project, the Mayor has refused to enforce the critical public safeguards unique to the City’s Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO).
Don’t get me wrong; I agree with Mayor Pike that best available science should be followed when regulating the Cherry Point terminal application. It’s just not clear to me why Mayor Pike doesn’t require the same of projects within the City where he has the authority and jurisdiction to do so.
Around here, one hand of government does occasionally slap one of the other hands. This goes on in other places too.
Hey, Larry. Maybe he’s learned his lesson after being pilloried by you the last two years!
Hey Greg, I’m not sure “pilloried” is the word I’d use. More of an education.
In any event, if Mayor Pike has truly learned the lesson, there’s no better time to apply it to Fairhaven Highlands than now.
Perhaps Mayor Pike will respond for himself.
Since this is an election year LH, could it have anything to do with receiving more votes for one than the other?
AFY!!theheelotsheepdog!!!
I’d bet not. You’ve definitely “educated” him on that!
Well, Larry and AFY, I’ll bet his approach in Fairhaven is far more likely to succeed in satisfying his constituents than any effort on his part will be in slowing down the coal train.
I think that what is happening in regard to the shoreline issues and dock permit is that the developers are negotiating with the Lummis, in private, as is the usual way those dealings are handled.
The major concern should be that the Lummis are not the people who should be concerned with the dock and water issues. Attempting to simply re-open the old permit, shuts out all other concerns. I think that is what the mayor was trying to say without coming right out and saying it.
That should have been the Lummis are not the ONLY people who should be consulted. The herring at Chery Point support the fish in the whole sound and there are a lot of other fishers.
One issue that has been raised with the dept of ecology that wasn’t considered in the permit is the fact that the bulkers at the dock will create more shadowing than the dock itself. It won’t matter what configuration they come up with, once they have three huge bulkers at the dock. The dept. of ecology is taking note.
I think the state should take the lead. This “project” effects more than our county . Good to see our Mayor being proactive.
I thought that the state approval process was supposed to take two years? Has that been changed?
Ok some more grand standing by an ineffective local politician. BTW has anyone read the RCW? It took all of 5 seconds to see the obvious. Google it. The state can not be the lead agency. I think Mr Pike (or soon to be) is trying to get any group on his side, get them to close their eyes on the fact that he has not done anything for anyone except himself. Lets see maybe if I pertend to do something that I realy don’t have the power to do someone will like me! MMMMMM
The ‘state” decidedly supports this project…why is this good news?
Greg, if Mayor Pike’s goal is to satisfy his constituents – Citywide – then he should stand firm and enforce all development regulations critical to ensuring public safety. Voters justifiably have a tough time understanding why anyone would refuse to enforce laws specifically designed to protect the public from “injury, loss of life, or property damage due to landslides and steep slope failures, erosion, seismic events or flooding.”
As you know, the City Charter spells out the ‘Duties of the Mayor’ and states, “The Mayor shall make certain that all laws and ordinances are faithfully enforced.” Failure to enforce a public safety regulation is rightfully a litmus test issue for anyone running for mayor.
If I’ve interpreted your comment correctly, you’re claiming that I’ve educated the Mayor not to respond for himself. I hope that’s not the case. I guess we’ll see.
I was just reading that the Crowe Indian tribe is involved in developing the Powder River Basin coal or wants to be involved because much of it is on their land. So, now we have a better idea of why this is being pushed so hard.
We have the Lummis fighting to simply re-open the old dock contract and avoid a new battle that would involve other participants and we have the Crowes wanting to profit from the mining. Then we have the Obama administration putting $180 billion worth of regulatory fees on the anthracite coal that do no apply to the PRB coal.
This seems that the government and the developers have been dishonest, not negotiating in good faith.
John Stark – Did you know that the Crowe were involved in this deal?
Thanks for the cite to the law of revised permits. Hysterical the county is screaming at Pike about being wrong on the law, and yet SSA’s checking of the box for a revised shoreline substantial development permit wasn’t kicked back.
OK times up nobody cared to look at the law. Why Mr. Pike and his advisers spend tax payer money and not just Google the rcw? Ok and the Herald. It took 5 minutes to find the legal lead agency. Maybe it is an election year and we are again trying to take our eyes off the real issues. MR Pike or the state is not the or cannot be the Lead agency. WHAT IS HE TRYING TO TAKE OUR EYES OFF? Look AT HIS HORRIBLE ENVIORMENTAL RECORD! NOW HE CARES ABOUT OUT EARTH (or votes) Here it is:
WAC 197–11–932 Lead agency for private projects requiring licenses from more than one agency, when one of the agencies is a county/city. For proposals for private projects that require nonexempt licenses from more than one agency, when at least one of the agencies requiring such a license is a county/city, the lead agency shall be that county/city within whose jurisdiction is located the greatest portion of the proposed project area, as measured in square feet. For the purposes of this section, the jurisdiction of a county shall not include the areas within the limits of cities or towns within such county.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.21C.110. 84–05–020 (Order DE 83–39), § 197–11–932, filed 2/10/84, effective 4/4/84.]
Larry, actually no, I was trying to be much more lighthearted than that.
Given your “education” of the mayor, I don’t expect he’ll respond to you, but on the bright side, you didn’t let his attention drift from acquiring Fairhaven Highlands.
Maybe not the way you’d have done it.
Greg, you’re right, I would have done things differently. For one thing, my approach would not have required citizens to raise more than $150,000 to force the city to do its job. For another, my way would not result in the city paying a $3 million premium to acquire the land.
So, yeah, I believe most voters would appreciate an approach that would save impacted citizens $150,000 and taxpayers another $3 million. Can you blame us for trying to educate Mayor Pike?
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” Nietzsche
Wow! Resorting to existential nihilism to justify poor decision-making is a sign of real desperation.
I’d say that saving taxpayers $3 million and impacted citizens $150,000 plus thousands of person-hours fighting city hall is clearly a BETTER way. Whether it is the right way, correct way, or only way, I’ll leave that for Nietzsche to decide.
“Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.” Nietzsche
Would it be preferable to have no convictions?
The ability to work with groups of different opinion,s and coming to common ground is the skill of a good leader. Dan Pike’s management syle is my way only. The voters of Bellingham are getting well informed this election cycle.
I agree. Mayor Pike navigated a veritable minefield of potentially disastrous obstructions and successfully piloted the City through the worse of the Great Recession. We should all be thankful that his capable oversight has continued to guide us through this economic tempest with a minimum of damage.
Like all cities, we suffered some bumps and bruises, but it could have been much worse with less capable leadership.
Dan Pike demanded some concessions from labor, and unions are now withholding their support, when they should actually be grateful, because their plight could have been far, far worse under a different mayor.
Mayor Pike sensibly controlled spending, avoided major tax increases, and successfully fought for the things that matter most. He deserves our support in the upcoming election.
I agree that the county should not be ‘in charge’ — this project is not just about Whatcom County, as the coal trains will impact transportation, health etc all the way back to the Powder River Basin. No matter how few/many new jobs the Cherry Pt expansion *might* bring (all speculation, though you can bet the investors have been very optimistic, perhaps even salesman exuberant, in their estimates) bring to our small county.
This issue is just not about Whatcom County (the IT’S ALL ABOUT ME!), it’s far broader, certainly impacting many parts of Washington State.
Personally, I think that way too many government officials (county, state) have followed the More Tax Money sales pitch from the corporate lobbies. Guess they resonate to the ‘promise anything’ story (after all, it’s the same one they use during political campaigning). But we all know what happens after the Deed is Done, the election is over … bye bye to the promises, welcome to reality.