August 28, 2015 UPDATED LETTER AND SIGNATURES
Jay Inslee, Governor
State of Washington
P.O. Box 40002
Olympia, WA 98504
Maia Bellon, Director
Washington State Department of Ecology
P.O. Box 47600
Olympia, WA 98504
Brian Shay, City Manager
City of Hoquiam
609 – 8th Street
Hoquiam, WA 98550
Ken Dahlstedt, Chair
Skagit County Commission
1800 Continental Place, Suite 100
Mount Vernon, WA 98273
Dear Honorable Officials Inslee, Bellon, Shay, and Dahlstedt:
We, as organizational leaders and elected officials, are writing to urge a 120-day public comment period for two Draft Environmental Impact Statements: one concerning the proposed Grays Harbor crude oil terminals and the other concerning the proposed Shell rail offloading facility in Anacortes, Washington.
You have understood the wisdom of our previous requests.
Due to our efforts, studies of significance have been completed. Due to our efforts, the scope of review for both projects was greatly expanded.
We ask you to listen to us once again and make the public comment period 120 days.
Our labor, environmental, community, health and fishery groups, along with our Native American allies, have a great deal of knowledge about these issues. You need our participation if your decisions are to be properly informed and legitimate. Please don’t silence us by making our participation impossible. We need 120 days.
We are prepared to read the thousands of pages of documents, discuss them with our members and prepare informed testimony, but we need more time. We are people who have full-time jobs and family obligations. We do not have policy staffs like the Governor’s office, the Department of Ecology or the multi-national corporations advocating for these projects.
There is nothing routine about these proposed projects. Your decisions about these projects will set a precedent for future projects that will shape the character of Washington State and signal your commitment to reduce global warming.
Please send your response to our request via the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters at 1069 Adams Street, SE, Olympia, Washington 98501 or wscff@wscff.org.
Sincerely,
Kelly L. Fox, President Kent Wright, President
Washington State Council of Fire Fighters Northwest Farmers Union
Ben Stuckart, President George Barner, Jr., Commissioner
Spokane City Council Port of Olympia
Bill Ward PE, Commissioner Alan Richrod, Council Member
Port of Camas-Washougal City of Aberdeen
Larry Thevik, Vice President Arthur “RD” Grunbaum, President
Washington Dungeness Crab Fisherman’s Friends of Grays Harbor
Association, Westport
Dr. Bruce Amundson, President Elise DeGooyer & Paul Benz, Co-Directors
Washington Physicials for Social Responsibility Faith Action Network, Seattle
Cager Clabaugh, Representative Don & Alona Steinke
ILWU Local 4, Vancouver Sierra Club of SW Washington
Tom Glade, President Carolyn Gastellum
Evergreen Islands, Inc., Anacortes Protect Skagit
Ahmed Gaya Carl Voli
Rising Tide Seattle 350 Seattle
Bill Moyer, Coordinator Tammy Domike, Field Coordinator
Backbone Campaign, Vashon Citizens for a Clean Harbor, Hoquiam
Linda Orgel, Treasurer Arnie Martin, President
Friends of Grays Harbor Grays Harbor Audubon
Diane L. Dick, Representative Eric Labrant, President
Landowners & Citizens for a Safe Community Fruit Valley Neighborhood Association
Longview Vancouver
Laura Ackerman, Oil Policy Director Brian Anderson
The Lands Council, Spokane Climate Action, Bainbridge
Terry J. Wechsler JD, Co-Founder Zoltan Grossman
Protect Whatcom, Bellingham Olympia Confronting the Climate Crisis
Note: The Solidarity Roundtable on Oil organized this sign-on letter in conjunction with the Washington State Council of Fire Fighters.
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