VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — The joint venture that wanted to build what would have been the nation’s largest oil-by-rail terminal says Gov. Jay Inslee’s rejection of a permit “sends a clear anti-development message.”
The Vancouver Energy project, a venture of Savage Companies and Andeavor, formerly known as Tesoro Corp., proposed to receive about 360,000 barrels of North American crude oil a day by trains at the port of Vancouver along the Columbia River.
Inslee, in rejecting the permit Monday, said the risks and impacts outweighed the need for and potential benefits of the project. Inslee agreed with the recommendation of a state energy panel, which unanimously voted in November to recommend that the project be denied.
In a statement Tuesday Vancouver Energy said the final Environmental Impact Statement showed the project wouldn’t have any significant impacts that couldn’t be mitigated. It said it’s evaluating its options.