Victory in the Salish Sea! Xylene will NOT be manufactured and exported from the Anacortes refinery! An additional 120 tank vessel transits will NOT impact Southern Resident orcas, our economy, our marine ecosystem, and shoreline communities with increased vessel noise and the increased risk of accidents and spills. [NOTE: not just oil spills – xylene spills also!]
We’ve reached out to you 10 times since April 2016 asking you to oppose this project. You attended information meetings, submitted comments, and testified at hearings in Skagit County – you stepped up and made a difference! THANK YOU!
And we heard from you and took action! Friends of the San Juans and five other environmental organizations are thrilled to announce that we’ve reached an agreement with Marathon Petroleum Corporation – a subsidiary of Andeavor, formerly known as Tesoro. The Anacortes refinery agreed to withdraw plans to manufacture and export 15,000 barrels per day of mixed xylenes (petrochemicals used to make plastics). In exchange, Friends and the other co-appellants agreed to drop an ongoing appeal of related permits. Skagit County, which issued the permits, has also signed the agreement.
We celebrate this success with our co-appellants, Stand.earth, Evergreen Islands, RE Sources for Sustainable Communities, Friends of the Earth, and Puget Soundkeeper; and also Crag Law Center who provided legal representation.
Click here to learn more from the press release.
Click here to learn more from a story from KING 5.
This is a huge win! Here’s to a new year full of more victories for our islands, the whales, and all of us who love the Salish Sea!
