This morning, during a fundraiser breakfast for the non-profit Clean Solutions, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced that the Port of Seattle will need to seek a new land-use permit before Foss Maritime can use Terminal 5 as a staging area for oil rigs this summer.
In a transcript released to the media the Mayor said “To prevent the full force of climate change, it’s time to turn the page on things like coal trains, oil trains and oil drilling rigs. It’s time to focus on the economy of the future: electric cars and transit, green homes and environmentally progressive businesses. I expect the Port to obtain all required city permits before any moorage or work begins at T5 on off-shore drilling equipment. While requiring a new permit may not stop the port’s plans, it does give the port the opportunity to pause and rethink this issue”.
The controversial plans by Foss Maritime to use Pier 5 as a staging area for Shell Oil drilling rigs headed to Alaska has garnered a firestorm of negative reactions from environmental groups and citizens alike.
The first oil rig that was set to arrive sometime next week is the Polar Pioneer, which is currently moored in Port Angeles.
As the Mayor explained the findings were delivered to him following a review of the lease between the city and the Port of Seattle by the Department of Planning and Development. According to the review the lease only permits cargo operations on the pier.
According to Paul Queary, a media contact for Foss Maritime, the issue between the Port and the city of Seattle will not interfere with their current plans. In an official statement to the press Foss said of the Mayor’s comments:
Foss Maritime has a lease with the Port of Seattle to operate a portion of Terminal 5. During the negotiation of that lease, Foss had extensive discussions of its planned activities there, including the moorage of the Polar Pioneer and other vessels.
Port management agreed that those activities were allowed under Terminal 5’s existing permit, which was issued by the city in the 1990s, so Foss entered into the lease in good faith.
On Monday morning, Mayor Ed Murray suggested that the activity is not consistent with the permit. This is a dispute between the city and the port.
Foss intends to continue work at Terminal 5 under our lease with the Port regardless of the mayor’s comments.
The Mayor’s action also raises grave concerns about his stated commitment to Seattle’s thriving maritime community. By giving a small but vocal group the ability to jeopardize the commercial relationships between our local maritime businesses and the Port of Seattle, the Mayor is casting serious doubt on the future of the city’s working waterfront.
When the West Seattle Herald reached out to Port of Seattle for a comment on the review the Port explained that they are currently assessing the Mayor’s comments before issuing a statement. This story will be updated as more information comes in.
