LNG bunkering at the Port of Tacoma

Two Port of Tacoma officials have taken steps to allay the concerns of local residents around the construction of an LNG bunkering facility by Puget Sound Energy (PSE).

Clare Petrich and Don Johnson published an article in local media stating: “Much has been said over the past year about the Port of Tacoma and our decision to enter into a lease with Puget Sound Energy to develop a liquefied natural gas facility.

“We, as two of the port’s elected commissioners, would like to make our position clear. We moved forward with this project after careful consideration, including the future of the shipping industry, environmental benefits and safety of the Tideflats and surrounding community. All presentations and votes were done in accordance with the law and in public.”

The statement said the decision to move ahead with the project was directly related to legislation surrounding ship emissions in specific ‘Emission Control Areas’ one of these areas runs within 200 miles of the coast of the continental United States and Canada, all the way up into Alaska.

This means that ships operating between the Pacific Northwest and Alaska face very strict emission controls for their entire journey.

They continued: “In preparation for this change, TOTE Maritime made the decision to convert its ships to run on LNG, a less polluting and safer fuel. While there are other ways to comply with the new regulations, Tote believes LNG provides greater environmental benefit and is the best option.

TOTE has been recognized as a leader in environmental stewardship within the shipping industry. To support its decision, TOTE needs a place to safely and reliably fuel its ships. It contracted with PSE to provide the new fuel source.

They said: “Because there is so much misinformation in the community about this project, we have created a page on our website at www.portoftacoma.com/lng. This site provides primary-sourced information as well as links to other resources.”

24th Sept 2017