Head of San Juans’ LWV Testifies at Cherry Point Hearing

On July 24, League of Women Voters of the San Juans’ president, Diane Martindale testified at the Seattle Cherry Point Dock DEIS (draft environmental impact statement) Rally and Hearing. Below is the text of her speech. (Click  here to see the PDF of her speech with footnotes and sources included).

Anyone can and is encouraged to comment to the Army Corps of Engineers by August 6. For resources go to RE Sources or the Climate Solutions letter. Olivia Romano, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District Regulatory Branch, P.O. Box 3755 Seattle, WA 98124-3755. All comments should include the permit application number NWS-1992-435, as well as your name, address, and phone number.

Good afternoon. My name is Diane Martindale from San Juan Island and I am the president of LWVSJ. Our islands sit in the middle of what is called The Rotary in the Haro Strait. All tanker ships must go around us. We support the state LWV position against terminal expansion and increased crude oil shipping in the Salish Sea.

We request that that Army Corp of Engineers prevent any increase in shipping of crude oil, including tar sands, and have spill prevention plans and equipment in place asap.

Let me introduce you to my home. Many of you have kayaked, fished or sailed past my house. Our waters are home to 113 endangered species, and hundreds of recreational 1 vessels and fishing vessels and ferries. We live in, and you visit our 478 miles of pristine shoreline because it is a stunning and peaceful environment. We all enjoy the protected lands, all at the water’s edge:
• San Juan Island National Historical Park
• San Juan Islands National Monument
• San Juan Wilderness

Additionally, we have a protected marine reserve, National wildlife refuge and sensitive fish recovery zones. We are home to the University of Washington Friday Harbor Marine Labs with 95 marine research zones.

900,000 of you visit annually. Our tourism-based economy is made up of accommodations, retail sales, restaurants, whale watching, outfitting and leisure activities. An oil spill would collapse our fishing industry. A spill would devastate our economy and hardest hit would be those in the service industries. Tourism is a minimum of 32% of our economy valued at a minimum of $186.6 MM, annually. That may not be much money to you, but to us, it is everything.

Already more than 48 MM tons of coal travels through our waters and 500 oil tankers transit the Rosario Strait alone. [Average of 2400 transits a month go around our islands.]

With the potential Cherry Point expansion and the Kinder-Morgan and other projects we are looking at a dramatic increase of shipping past our doors. (Increased bulk shipping by 50% and oil tankers by 300%) This translates into a 34% increased risk of an accident and oil spill in our waters.

But there is so much more in the islands that we value-nature and our wildlife. Toxic vapors that are present just above an oil spill can and have proven to kill and damage orcas. As a documented model, the Exxon Valdez oil spill killed 22 orcas. A large increase in underwater
propeller noise could interfere with Orcas ability to echo-locate food. Also, we have the largest concentration of bald eagles in the continental US—they eat salmon.

We can’t even guess what a spill would do to our property values. Would you still come for a vacation?

Please do not let this refinery dock increase the oil tanker traffic for either crude or refined oil. Require BP to provide an actual usage report of the number of vessel calls, products transported and oil-related incidents. Please enforce the Magnuson law prohibiting federal permits that will result in increased crude oil tank traffic. Require a COMPREHENSIVE environmental impact statement which covers danger to human, plant and animal health. Require the financial responsibility of crashes and spills be approved and spill prevention plans and equipment be in place as soon as possible.

Thank you.