CALL TO ACTION: Tacoma Liquified Gas Facility is Under Construction on Puyallup Tribal Nation Ancestral Homeland
Published September 1, 2019
TACOMA, Wash. — Tribal officials are asking the public to make comment before September 9, 2019 in hopes to stop the construction of the Tacoma Liquified Gas (LNG) project that is on ancestral homeland of the Puyallup Tribal Nation.
The Puyallup Tribal Nation was never consulted about the dangerous project that will no doubt have a devastating effect on their land, economy, and culture. As we have seen so many times with other projects, the governmental agencies in charge of the oversight of the Tacoma LNG left tribal communities out of the conversation and have ignored their concerns.
The last hurdle for the Tacoma Liquified Gas (LNG) project is a permit from the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA), a regional government agency charged with limiting pollution in King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish Counties. The LNG project is designed to deliver fracked gas through Tacoma to an industrial facility situated between the Blair and Hylebos Waterways. There the gas will be super-cooled and pressurized into a liquid state, known as LNG which will be used as fuel.
The Puyallup Tribe is one of 18 tribal nations in Washington opposing the project, these nations are joined by 18 human and civil rights groups, in addition to dozens of local and statewide environmental organizations.
An LNG facility in an urban area like Tacoma is an uncommon practice for the industry because it is known to be risky. Local advocates opposing the project have pointed out that the company hid safety studies from the public and regulators until key approval deadlines had passed.
In July, PSCAA released a preliminary determination to issue permits for Tacoma LNG. The determination was widely criticized by opponents for using outdated assumptions and flawed science. This final permit, known as the Notice of Construction Application, will be decided in early September.
news.puyalluptribe.com/lng
Ralph Munoz
PublicComment@pscleanair.org
1904 Third Avenue, Suite 105
Seattle, WA 98101
Comment suggestions:
Tell the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) that the Tacoma Liquified Gas project permit should be denied:
- The Puyallup Tribal Nation was never consulted about this project, which runs counter to federal Indian policy. There was no consideration about how this project will impact or affect the tribe’s health, sustainability, jurisdiction, treaty and hunting fishing rights.
- This project violates the treaty rights of the Puyallup Tribal nation and other tribal nations.
- There was no public health impact assessment conducted for this project. The risk for pollution and toxic contamination is far too great for local communities.
- The Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) that was submitted for this project was flawed and used outdated science to evaluate greenhouse gas emissions.
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