Open Letter Re: Cherry Point Terminal

— from Susan Malins —

To: Colonel John G. Buck, Commander, Seattle District, ACOE

Subject: Please release the final EIS for the BP Cherry Point tanker terminal.

Dear Colonel John G. Buck and Associates:

I live in a beautiful region and people from all over the world flock to Orcas Island for its natural beauty and recreation. This region is a jewel in Washington’s crown which is highly sensitive to intrusion and disruption, and which I beg you to value and protect, as is your public duty.

I reside on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands, in the center of the Salish Sea. I have resided in these islands for 28 years and enjoy the hiking fishing and boating which this area offers in singularly fine fashion. The health of the Salish Sea and its inhabitants should be of primary concern when oil tanker traffic through its waters is considered. Oil spills are extremely nasty and devastating to the health of living things, causing irreparable damage to an ecosystem and its human residents and visitors. I am concerned about the impacts of increased tanker traffic and the impacts of an oil spill in the water surrounding my home.

We have been waiting for more than 11 years for the Army Corps of Engineers to produce an Environmental Impact Statement for the expansion of BP’s Cherry Point tanker terminal. The Draft EIS, released more than two years ago, failed to recommend a limit on the number of crude oil tankers allowed to call on the refinery terminal, which is a direct violation of the Magnuson Amendment. It should not take more than a decade to conclude that building a second dock doubles the capacity for BP to transport oil.

We are calling on the Army Corps of Engineers to release a Final EIS for the Cherry Point refinery tanker terminal immediately—limiting the tanker traffic to no more than the number that called on the refinery before the second dock was built in compliance with Magnuson.

Puget Sound cannot afford to wait longer, given the approval of the Kinder Morgan tar sands pipeline expansion which will increase tar sands flowing by pipeline to refineries in Washington and exponentially escalate tanker traffic by 700%, seriously jeopardizing the region.

An immediate Environmental Impact Statement must explicate the truth, that this region’s health and wellbeing depends upon severely limiting the number of tankers within its pristine waters. Even the finest spill response team cannot repair the possible catastrophic damage. The Orca population is under severe stress as it is, and may be unable to stand the likely future pollutant of oil spills.

Thank you in advance for producing an Environmental Impact Statement which contains provisions to protect our waters and inhabitants.