SEATTLE — A lawsuit challenging the Port of Seattle’s decision to lease one of its terminals as a homeport for an Arctic oil-drilling fleet can go forward, a Washington state judge ruled Friday.
Environmental groups say the port broke state law in February when it signed a two-year lease with Foss Maritime Co. to rent 50 acres at Terminal 5 near downtown Seattle. Foss’ client is Royal Dutch Shell PLC, which plans to base its Arctic fleet there.
The lease has become a political lightning rod. Critics say welcoming the fleet risks pollutant spills in Puget Sound, and that enabling oil drilling in the Artic runs counter to Seattle’s environmental sensibilities. Supporters say the drilling will happen regardless of where the fleet is based and that the lease will bring hundreds of well-paying jobs to the city.
Mayor Ed Murray and the City Council have directed planners to investigate whether Shell’s activities would be allowed under a shoreline development permit that the city granted to the Port of Seattle in 1995.
The plaintiffs, represented by the law firm Earthjustice, said the port should have conducted an environmental review before granting the lease because basing a drilling fleet at the terminal is different from its prior use as a cargo terminal.
“The permitted uses under the terms of the lease seem to contradict the expected uses outlined in the Port of Seattle’s staff briefing memo,” King County Superior Court Judge Mariane Spearman wrote in allowing the case to proceed.
About eight vessels would spend the winter at the terminal, and any major repairs would be done at a shipyard that has the proper permits, the port says. Shell is considering offshore exploratory drilling again this summer in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska’s northwest coast if it can get the necessary permits.
Shell has said the activities planned at Terminal 5 include docking, mooring, loading equipment, crew changes and the transfer of goods. That’s no more environmentally risky than the loading or unloading of shipping containers that occurred under the previous tenant, according to the port.
“We are confident that our use of Terminal 5 will be in compliance with its current permit, and we will show that in court,” Foss spokesman Paul Queary said.
The environmental groups challenging the lease — including the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, The Sierra Club, the Seattle Audubon Society and the Washington Environmental Council — remain skeptical.
Shell’s drilling fleet has a bad track record, they say. In 2012, Shell’s drill vessel Kulluk ran aground after it had broken free from its tow in bad weather near Kodiak, Alaska. Last year, a drilling company hired by Shell to operate a drill ship in 2012 agreed to pay $12.2 million after pleading guilty to committing environmental and maritime crimes while transiting to and from Arctic waters.
“The Port is ducking its responsibility for protecting Puget Sound,” Mark Powell, Washington Environmental Council’s Puget Sound program director, said in a written statement. “Leaks or spills from Shell’s Arctic drilling fleet would undermine the hundreds of millions of dollars already spent on restoration of Puget Sound and the Duwamish River.”
As a next step, the judge ordered both sides in the lawsuit to confer and agree on what information they want her consider as she weighs the merits of their arguments.
“We look forward to providing this information to the court,” Port of Seattle spokesman Peter McGraw said in a statement. “The port continues to be committed to fully comply with any and all requirements and regulations.”
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