The Vancouver City Council will not make the decision regarding NuStar’s application to handle crude oil at the Port of Vancouver, City Attorney Bronson Potter said Monday.
Following the city’s own procedures, the decision will be made by Chad Eiken, the city’s director of community and economic development.
Eiken’s decision, expected in late February, may be appealed to a hearings examiner, Potter said, then it would go to Clark County Superior Court.
Potter gave the council a brief update on NuStar Energy LP of San Antonio’s proposed project because councilors have been hearing safety and environmental concerns from residents. Councilors also had questions about how far the city can go on placing restrictions on NuStar, which has existing bulk tank terminals at the port and at 5420 Fruit Valley Road.
The Fruit Valley Road annex connects to the main terminal by underground pipes.
In September, the council passed an emergency six-month moratorium on new or expanded facilities that would accept crude oil.
The measure was meant to head off plans by NuStar to apply to store crude oil, but the company submitted a pre-application the day before the moratorium was enacted, making the project exempt.
In its application, NuStar, which has leased property from the port since 2006, “proposes retrofitting existing facilities to receive crude oil via rail, store it temporarily, and transfer it to marine vessels for shipment via the Columbia River.”
The proposal calls for retrofitting two storage tanks near the shoreline, modifying rail tracks to accommodate 16 rail cars, as opposed to two rail cars, and building platforms to access the railcars, Potter said. The company also plans to install a marine vapor combustion system and new piping.
NuStar has handled jet fuel, antifreeze, diesel, methanol and other products at its Vancouver terminals, but not crude oil.
When NuStar filed its pre-application in September, NuStar spokesman Chris Cho said the company anticipates handling an average of 22,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
“This project would provide revenue to the port, create jobs, bring more low-cost crude to the region and further support U.S. energy independence. It would also be a state-of-the-art facility that would be operated safely, in accordance with NuStar’s very high safety standards,” Cho said in September.
By comparison, the oil transfer terminal proposed by Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies would handle an average of 360,000 barrels of crude per day.
The Tesoro-Savage proposal remains under review by a state panel, which will make a recommendation to Gov. Jay Inslee.
The NuStar proposal, however, isn’t large enough to trigger the state review process, Potter said.
The minimum amount necessary to get the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council involved is 50,000 barrels daily, he said.
Councilor Anne McEnerny-Ogle said Monday she wants details from NuStar on its safety measures, and Councilor Alishia Topper asked if the city could take public health into consideration.
Vancouver City Manager Eric Holmes said Eiken could issue a decision that would trigger an environmental impact study.
If that happened, public health would be one of the factors under review, Holmes said.
