VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) - The Port of Vancouver delivered a blow Wednesday to a proposed rail-to-marine oil transfer terminal, coming out against a contract renegotiation requested by Vancouver Energy.
The staff recommendation to deny the request increases the likelihood that port commissioners will follow suit, leaving a contract in place that ramps up costs for the energy company starting this summer.
Tesoro Corp. and Savage Cos., operating as Vancouver Energy, seek to delay for two years an Aug. 1 rent increase. Energy officials say they made the request because the project remains in the state approval phase and the increase was put in place assuming the terminal would be operational or close to it by that time.
Port staff is recommending the board decline the request “but continue working in good faith with Vancouver Energy to pursue necessary approvals.”
The modification will be debated at an April 12 public hearing at Clark College and likely will be voted on by the three-member commission at a meeting April 15.
The proposal includes building a terminal along the Columbia River that can handle an average 360,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The oil would be temporarily stored on site and then loaded onto ships for transport to West Coast refineries.
Opponents have said the project is unsafe and environmentally hazardous and have urged commissioners to cancel the lease and abandon the venture.
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