Powerful senator revives plan for more oil tankers in Sound
WASHINGTON — Reviving an idea that was scuttled last month in the House, a powerful senator from Alaska has introduced legislation that would open Puget Sound to significantly more traffic from oil tankers.
The bill by Republican Sen. Ted Stevens would rescind restrictions enacted in 1977 that severely limit the number and size of tankers serving Washington’s five refineries.
The late Sen. Warren Magnuson, D-Wash., put the protections in place after concluding that the Cherry Point refinery in Whatcom County could become a “superport” for crude oil flowing south from Alaska.
But at a joint committee hearing Wednesday in which executives from five major oil companies were grilled about prices and profits, Stevens said the restrictions handcuff the nation’s ability to squeeze every drop of capacity out of existing refineries.
And, he added, with the prospect that the 10 billion barrels of oil locked beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge could be recovered, Washington refineries would be a logical destination for the new supply.
Late Wednesday, House leaders abandoned an attempt to push through a controversial plan to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge but House and Senate GOP leaders are likely to push hard to get the proposal back into a budget bill.
Stevens did not announce his bill at the hearing, but it was learned later in the day that he had submitted the legislation to erase Magnuson’s protections.
That touched off a withering response from Sen. Maria Cantwell and other critics who said turning Puget Sound into a superhighway for tankers would be a mortal mistake.
“I will do everything in my power to prevent giveaways to big oil companies that will increase the risk of a major oil spill in our precious Puget Sound,” Cantwell said.
“Profits are at an all-time high for oil companies but now they want to jeopardize the Puget Sound so they can ship more gasoline to foreign markets.”
Powerful senator revives plan for more oil tankers in Sound
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