Environment
Photo Credit: Torsten Dederichs @tdederichs
Unpacking our Environmental Progress in Tacoma over the Past Few Years
BY LAHAR
Human-induced climate change is having a potent negative effects on our planet, with far-reaching impacts on people, flora, and fauna alike. The repercussions on bio-diversity, hydrology, sea levels, glaciers, infrastructure, housing, jobs, and economies are already immeasurable and continue to escalate. Climate models have proven to be conservative. Climate scientists have their worst-case scenarios surpassed by the reality of change. This year we witnessed shattering heat records, severe droughts, powerful storms, and devastating floods. However, this year, with all its unprecedented extremes, may well be one of the coolest and calmest in the years to come.
In this article, we delve into the city of Tacoma’s Climate Action Plan and its promises of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, only to discover that reality has fallen short of these commitments. Fossil fuel industries continue to thrive, while regulatory measures lag behind. The consequences of this inaction threatens our health, safety, environment, and our children’s rights.
Tacoma’s Climate Action Plan: A Tale Of Targets And Reality
In 2008, Tacoma unveiled an ambitious Climate Action Plan, pledging to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. This target translated to a reduction of emissions to a total of 1,194,498 metric tons of CO2. The reality in 2020 painted a different picture. Instead of the promised reduction, the city’s greenhouse gas emissions increased to 1,710,000 metric tons of CO2, a near 70% increase over stated goals. This underscores the lack of useful regulation and a cozy relationship between lawmakers and the fossil-fuel-industrial-complex here in Tacoma. The challenges have only grown, while lofty words have not lead to meaningful changes and adaptation.
Looking ahead, the city’s 2030 Climate Action Plan estimates a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to 1,140,000 metric tons of CO2 by 2030. Can we achieve in much more in 7 years what we failed to do in 12? The ultimate goal is to achieve “net-zero” emissions by 2050, which arguably might be too little, too late. Since the city published its 2016 Environmental Action Plan, there has been a dire escalation in fossil fuel refining, trucking, shipping, and barging in our communities and through the Salish Sea. This increase in fossil fuel activities has tangible impacts on our health, safety, air, land, water and wildlife, and the delicate balance of our climate. The consequences of these activities are not just confined to the present. The influx of fossil fuel money is negatively influencing local politics, our common well-being and is disregarding the rights of future generations.
https://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/one.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=9659
https://cms.cityoftacoma.org/Sustainability/Tacoma_EAP.pdf
https://www.cityoftacoma.org/cms/one.aspx?pageId=193914
Progress on Port/Tideflats Subarea Zone Process Crawls At A Snail’s Pace
On May 19 th 2017, the Tacoma City Council adopted Resolution 39723, initiating a subarea planning process for the Port of Tacoma/Tideflats situated almost entirely on the Puyallup Reservation. The plan has been progressing at a glacial pace, and to this day not even a draft has been produced. The City Council holds the sole authority to approve the subarea plan, with some roles for the state Department of Ecology in regards to shoreline management and for the Puget Sound Regional Council to maintain transportation grant eligibility. However, the city council decided to give multiple fossil fuel interests at seat at the table and thus has made the process more contentios and slow. Climate youth, environmentalists and health specialists do not have an equal voice.
https://cms.cityoftacoma.org/Planning/Tideflats/Subarea%20Plan/Amended%20Resolution%2039723.pdf
Although the project has been underway for well over six years, far exceeding the initial estimate of 3-4 years, progress has been disappointingly slow. A side effect, possibly anticipated, of this proposed plan is that all major players in the local toxins industries have swiftly submitted expansion applications. These industries employ government relations personnel, who are well aware of the implications of such a plan, as well as the lack proper regulations at the point, taking advantage of this protracted period of regulatory void.
https://www.350tacoma.org/2021/09/09/even-planning-commission-seems-frustrated-with-city-council/
U.S. Oil (now Par Pacific), One Of Tacoma’s Top Polluters
Located on a sprawling 139-acre site in the Port of Tacoma, the U.S. Oil refinery, recently sold to Houston-based Par Pacific, is evidence of the scale and influence the fossil fuel industry holds over Tacoma. Each day, it refines a staggering 42,000 barrels (1,764,000 gallons) of Bakken and Cold Lake crude oil. U.S. Oil's assets include 2.9 Million barrels of oil (121,800,000 gallons) of storage capacity, a proprietary 14-mile jet fuel pipeline, running under the Puyallup river and leading to JBLM, a marine terminal with 15 acres of waterfront property, a unit train rail facility with 107 unloading spots and a truck rack with six truck lanes and 10 loading arms. Imported Bakken, Canadian and Alaskan crude oils are refined in Tacoma for export to markets in the Pacific, Hawaii and 15 states.
https://www.parpacific.com/operations/refining-logistics/washington
The Tacoma oil refinery is the only asphalt producer in the Pacific Northwest region.
https://www.parpacific.com/about-us
Between 2016 and 2019, U.S. Oil/Par Pacific almost doubled the amount of oil they exported by ship.
https://www.healthybay.org/big-oil-taking-advantage-of-tacoma/
https://www.sightline.org/2019/01/11/par-pacific-buys-tacoma-refinery-more-oil-shipping-salish-sea/
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/US-Oil-Production-To-Hit-New-Record-In-2023.html?
Tacoma’s US Oil and Refining and other Washington State oil refineries spent more than $25 million to defeat Initiative 1631 in what has become the highest-spending opposition campaign in state history.
Tacoma now also has the dubious distinction of being most threatened by oil trains:
https://www.sightline.org/2015/07/08/tacomas-ticking-time-bomb/
Oil refineries are some for the largest contributors to toxic air pollution as well harmful climate gases. Par Pacific is particularly harmful as it operates and flares inside a dense urban population, with many tribal members living downwind of the air toxins.
https://www.sightline.org/2021/10/20/direct-impacts-of-northwest-refinery-pollution/
Seaport Sound Terminal: An Environmental Crossroads
In the wake of Tacoma’s declaration of a Climate Emergency, Seaport Sound Terminal, formerly known as TARGA, has been making significant increases to its operations. This terminal in recent years received a permit to transfer and store an additional 24 million gallons of condensate per week. This fracking byproduct of the fossil fuel industry equates to a staggering 1,248,000,000 gallons per year of highly toxic petroleum product moving through our communities and the Salish Sea. Furthermore, SeaPort Sound Terminal has been given the green light to double the number of rail cars they can unload on their property at one time. This increase allows for up to 26,112 rail cars carrying 16.9 million barrels of crude oil, which could be shipped out on anywhere from 91 to 565 oil barges each year. This represents a 68% jump in rail car deliveries from the 4th quarter of 2016 to the 4th quarter of 2019. Under the guise of ‘modernization’, the terminal’s storage capacity has also seen a dramatic increase. A recent permit of an additional 166,856 barrels of fossil fuels have increased storage at the terminal by an astounding 1400%, representing an additional 14% increase in fossil fuel storage on the Hylebos Waterway.
The current storage capacity in the refinery area is approximately 15,000 barrels; however, newly permitted tanks will have a capacity of about 181,000 barrels of diesel, bio-diesel, and other fuel oils. This storage increase represents roughly a 10% increase over the full capacity at the site. These drastic expansions mean more tankers, more trucks, more trains, and more barges filled with oil moving through our communities and waterways. With SeaPort Sound Terminal now permitted to send out up to 14.6 million barrels of crude oil by boat every year, these developments raise serious environmental concerns that need to be addressed urgently.
https://cityoftacoma.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=169&pageId=222229
https://www.350tacoma.org/2020/09/10/stop-the-seaport-sound-terminal-storage-expansion/
WestRock Paper Mill: A Missed Opportunity For Environmental Restoration?
(The paper mill is closing end of September 2023): Despite Tacoma’s Climate Emergency declaration and long delayed port subarea regulations, WestRock has recently been permitted to pump an additional 15 tons of toxic air pollutants per year. WestRock was the largest polluter even before this latest permit. Air pollutants increases due to this project include:
• Total suspended particulates by 0.33 tons/year
• Particulate matter less than 10 microns in size (PM10) by 0.3 tons/year
• PM2.5 by 0.23 tons/year.
• Volatile organic compounds by 3.9 tons/year.
• Toxic air pollutants by 15.59 tons/year.
(Toxins include: Chloroform, Formaldehyde, Methylene Chloride, Naphthalene, Tetrachloroethylene, Trichloroethylene, Acetaldehyde and Benzene). The WestRock pulp mill, Tacoma’s largest industrial water and power consumer, sits at a critical juncture. Its location at the biologically important mouth of the Puyallup River presents a unique opportunity for environmental restoration and a transition towards a cleaner future. However, this potential is currently overshadowed by uncertainty and concern. The city’s long delay in rezoning the Port Subarea has left the area vulnerable, with no protections to safeguard its environmental integrity. This lack of regulation gives industry the upper hand, allowing them to dictate the future of our bay. The situation at WestRock serves as a reminder for the need for proactive environmental policies. Without them, we risk missing valuable opportunities to restore and protect our natural resources. It is crucial that we prioritize environmental considerations in urban planning decisions.
Puget Sound Energy’s LNG Methane Refinery: An Environmental Quandary
In the face of Tacoma’s Climate Emergency declaration and pending port subarea regulations, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has been granted permission to build and operate a colossal methane refinery, a first for the West Coast. This move has sparked a wave of actions, demonstrations, marches and deep apprehension among Indigenous Peoples, environmental advocates and local communities. The Puyallup Tribe has strenuously opposed to toxic refinery forced upon their traditional homelands and fishing grounds. City leaders supported this expansion of the fossil fuel industry, promising 120 permanent jobs. However, now that the facility is operational, only 18 jobs have materialized, raising questions about local benefits of this project. The facility was built on public land, for which Pierce County residents pay taxes, while not receiving any befits, since all profits are siphoned off from our region and our country. This has left us questioning the equity of these new fossil fuel developments.
The refinery was built on the traditional gathering grounds of the Puyallup People, an area protected by the Medicine Creek Treaty enshrined in the US Constitution. Despite this, leadership at the port, city, and the clean air agency have ignored these protections. They have also neglected their duties to consult with the Puyallup Tribe, duties enshrined in the U.S. Constitution and the Puyallup Land Claims Settlement of 1990.
https://www.historylink.org/file/20157
https://goia.wa.gov/tribal-government/treaty-medicine-creek-1854
PSE’s LNG (liquefied fracked gas) is imported Canadian fracked gas that is refined into nearly pure methane, then frozen to minus 260F as liquid gas. Methane is up to 86 times worse as a climate gas than CO2. The Tacoma LNG is permitted to refine up to 500,000 gallons a day and store 8 million gallons of this highly volatile gas on the Hylebos, near populations, schools, daycare centers and a massive fossil fuel storage facility at Seaport Sound Terminal.
The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency calculated that up to 74% of all that gas will be barged elsewhere.
That’s a staggering 81,030,000,000 gallons methane/year
500,000 gals LNG/day = 182,500,00 gals/year 74% = 135,050,000 gals/year barged. LNG = 600 times condensed methane.
x 600 = 81,030,000,000 gallons of pure, volatile, toxic, climate harming methane traveling by/through dense communities, interrupting the feeding of endangered mammals and exposing everyone to insane risks never evaluated and not covered by Puget Sound Energy. To this day, the city of Tacoma denies that barging can take place.
PSE ratepayers are responsible for 43% of the gas refinery costs. Profits are sent to private pension investors in Canada and Holland as well as millionaire investors in Australia. According to a study conducted by Wilma Subra, a renowned chemist and environmental scientist, Tacoma LNG’s potential air emissions are significant:(we are using Subra’s data set here, since the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency has not made a clear pollution tally available).
https://pscleanair.gov/636/PSE---LNG-Facility-Tacoma
NOX: 13.8 tons per year
CO: 20.1 tons per year
SO2: 5.5 tons per year
PM10: 1.03 tons per year
PM2.5: 1.03 tons per year
Volatile Organic Comp.: 85.7 tons per year
Sulfuric Acid: 0.27 tons per year
Toxic Air Pollutants: 39.6 tons per year
Hazardous Air Pollutants: 0.38 tons per year
Green House Gases: 20,751 tons per year
An additional unknown amount of methane is leaking from venting, pipelines, spills, trucks, barges, tanks, ships, fueling and liquefaction.
https://indivisiblewaenvironment.wordpress.com/no-tacoma-lng-overview/
https://www.cleanertacoma.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/ACT-20180823-LNG-Overview.pdf
Bridge Industrial Warehouse In South Tacoma Raises Social Justice Concerns:
Tacoma has given the green light for the construction of an extraordinarily large warehouse, one of the world’s largest, greater than 50 football fields, on a protected aquifer and wetland in South Tacoma. This aquifer has the potential to supply Tacoma with 40% of its water. As our glaciers recede and droughts become increasingly common, this development illuminates the inadequacy of current regulations, ineffective protections, and a callous disregard for the residents of Tacoma’s most diverse neighborhood. Here, residents already face a 20-year shorter life span than their counterparts in the more affluent North-end, which remains untouched by warehouses or toxic industries.
The Tacoma planning director opted to bypass the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), a process typically employed to identify and analyze environmental impacts associated with government decisions. It seems that the city has taken a lesson from the methanol disaster: involving the public only raises more questions, questions neither the city nor the applicant are willing to answer.
This massive warehouse complex is worsening environmental justice in an area of Tacoma area evaluated “Low” for Equity, “Low” for Environmental Health, and “Very Low” for Livability according to the city’s own equity index. These residents already have a greater risk of cancer from toxic air pollution than 90-95% of the state and a lower life expectancy than 95-100% of the state.
The introduction of thousands more diesel trucks each day will increase harmful diesel air pollution, noise pollution, and traffic risks for everyone, including the many children attending nearby schools, community centers, Asian Pacific Culture Center, and play-fields. Once all the trees are cut down and millions of additional square feet of black top are installed, the urban heat effect will drastically increase. Long-term damage to the actual aquifer in a time of increasing droughts as well as increased neighborhood flooding in a time of ever increasing storms are perhaps unintended but understood side effects. Toxic oil and tire runoff into the untreated storm system poses a real harm to downstream salmon populations. A recent University of Washington Tacoma study found tire toxins the be the top killer of local salmon. However, the people are not going down without a fight:
http://www.350tacoma.org/2022/11/21/mega-warehouse-proposed-for-south-tacoma/
https://earthjustice.org/feature/south-tacoma-warehouse-bridge-industrial
City Leadership’s Silence On Detrimental Projects Raises Concerns Among Residents
Residents experience that Tacoma leadership prefers to remain silent and passive in the face of these harmful projects, by avoiding public acknowledgment of these issues and failing to address community concerns. City council members assert that they are prohibited from discussing such matters. These long-term, toxic land developments are now usually conducted behind closed doors. Decisions are made before people are informed. Residents are sometimes told, “It’s too late” or “Nothing can be done now”. More often than not, inquiries and communications directed at city staff and council members are disregarded and left unanswered. ‘Democracy dies in darkness’. Judge Damon Keith
As we look to the future, it is clear that the protection of our already damaged climate is not just a necessity, but a pressing imperative. We urgently need leaders who are willing and brave enough to implement robust policies that will significantly and swiftly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We need to transition to genuine renewable energy sources, adopt sustainable land-use practices, restore and replant natural areas, engage meaningfully with all residents, especially those most impacted, and incorporate Indigenous leadership at all levels, with the next seven generations in mind and at heart.
Photo Credit: Peter Werkman @pwphotography