We would think, after nearly three years of vociferous public debate, that Port of Vancouver Commissioner Brian Wolfe would had formed an opinion on a proposed oil terminal at the port.
In 2013, Wolfe was part of a 3-0 vote from port commissioners to approve the terminal. The deal would allow Tesoro Corp. and Savage Cos. to build and operate the nation’s largest rail-to-marine oil facility — one that would bring about 360,000 barrels of crude oil per day into Vancouver by train for transfer to vessels that would ship it down the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.
Since then, the proposal has been the subject of much scrutiny. The state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council is examining the plan and eventually will make a recommendation to Gov. Jay Inslee, who will have the final say on whether or not the terminal is approved. Throughout the process, the public has weighed in on an unprecedented scale, with some 250,000 comments being sent to state regulators.
In spite of that, Wolfe said last week, “Am I prepared to make a decision on it? No. I honestly don’t know; there are so many variables to consider. It was and will remain a really hard decision between economic development and the environment, in my mind.” Those are, indeed, valid questions. But if Wolfe has not yet made up his mind, he is part of a small minority in Clark County.