HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 99-002-CCBOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
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Resolution # 99-2-CC
RESOLUTION MEMORIALTZING GRANT COUNTY'S CONCERNS REGARDING THE
DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR
OLYMPIC PIPE LINE COMPANY'S CROSS-CASCADE PIPELINE PROJECT.
WHEREAS, Grant County's State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Responsible
Official has determined the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Cross-
Cascade Pipeline Project to be sufficiently incomplete, and therefore it is impossible to make a
qualified judgement on the content of the DEIS.
WHEREAS, the SEPA Responsible Official has advised the Board of County
Commissioners that portions of the DEIS are insufficient as they apply to Grant County and the
proposed project.
WHEREAS, the affected Counties (Grant, Adarns, Kittitas, and Franklin Counties) in
eastern Washington met on Thursday, January 7, 1999 to discuss any issues the respective
Counties may have in regards to the Cross-Cascade Pipeline Project.
WHEREAS, the four affected Counties in eastern Washington (Grant, Adams, Kittitas,
and Franklin Counties) concur that a new DEIS for the Cross-Cascade Pipeline Project.
WHEREAS, the Grant County Planning Department (both Current Planning and Long
Range Planning) submitted written comment regarding the inadequacies of the DEIS for this
proposed project as it relates to Grant County�
WHEREAS, Grant County does not have staff with the qualifications to complete a full
technical review of this project and the DEIS.
WHEREAS, the proposed Cross-Cascade Pipeline project has been carried out at such
an accelerated pace that the affected Counties have not had ample time to have a review
completed (outside consultant with the required technical background) regarding the technical
aspects of the pipeline.
NOW, THERFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Grant County Board of County
Commissioners do by this resolution request a new Draft Enviromnental Impact Statement be
prepared for the Olympic Pipe Line Company's Cross-Cascade Pipeline Project.
Grant, Kittitas, Adams, and Franklin Counties, share the following concerns; including without
limitation, the following:
The DEIS lacks the specificity needed to perform an adequata review of the proposed
project and any impacts associated with it. In particular, the sections of the DEIS
addressing stream and river crossings, groundwater, transportation, emergency
response, and the terminal are woefully inadequate.
2. The above-mentioned Counties are expected to negotiate a mitigation agreement with
the proponent prior to adjudicatory hearings scheduled for later this year. However,
the DEIS lacks the necessary information to allow the Counties to properly identify
mitigation measures that will be needed for the project.
3. Portions of the DEIS are fatally flawed in that much of the analysis appears to be based
on the presumptions that the pipeline will never fail and as such there will be no
enviromnental impacts. Much of the DEIS appears to focus on the impacts of
constructing the pipeline, but provides little analysis of the operational impacts.
DONE THIS 11''H DAY OF JANUARY, 1999
ATTEST:
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Clerk ��e Board
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
GRANT CO TY, WASHINGTON
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