Jan 18, 2018 - Water Protectors Introduce Resolution to Stop Fracked Gas Plant
Seattle, WA – On January 16th, 2018 a coalition of Tribal leaders, Native activists and environmentalist introduced a resolution to the Seattle City Council opposing the construction of a fracked gas (Liquefied Natural Gas – LNG) plant at the Port of Tacoma. The resolution is sponsored by council-member Kshama Sawant.
The resolution calls on Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, who sits on the board of directors for the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA), to reject Puget Sound Energy’s (PSE) application for the new facility.
NoLNG press conference Seattle city council.
“We live in a time when rivers run dry. We live in a time when climate crisis is upon us and we must put a stop to facilities like this and get our dependence away from fossil fuels. We must make a stand for future generations. We must make a stand for the salmon. We must make a stand for the water. A threat to Tacoma is a threat to Seattle, we both live on the Salish Sea.” ~Dakota Case (Puyallup)
Currently, Puget Sound Energy, the company building the plant, has been building a massive fracked gas storage facility at the Port of Tacoma without obtaining all of its permits for construction and have not engaged in consultation, nor received consent, from the Puyallup Tribe whose lands the facility is being built upon.
PSE, who is owned by Canadian and Australian investors, wants to build a 140 foot, 8 million gallon LNG storage tank with production capability of 500,000 gallons LNG per day. LNG is fracked natural gas in a liquid state. To reach the liquid state, the fracked gas is cooled to -260 degrees Fahrenheit (°F).
While PSE has received a Notice of Violation by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency for failure to obtain a Notice of Construction approval prior to construction, PSE has continued to build the plant.
Council-member Sawant stated, “Ultimately if we are to take the science of climate change into account, then we’re not going to be able to rely on profit-driven corporations. That is why, ultimately, I am a socialist because we need to take these oil corporations and corporations like PSE into democratic public ownership because it’s only when we have control over the resources will we be able to decide what to do with them. As long as we as ordinary people don’t have control over it, PSE and corporations like them get to call the shots.”
The fracked gas LNG plant has been subject to intense protest for the past year and a half. Activists have staged numerous direct actions, blockades of the construction site and most recently holding a three day occupation at the Washington State capital during the start of the legislative session.