SeaPort Sound Terminal stores and transports fossil fuels and is located on the banks of the Hylebos Waterway in Commencement Bay and is looking to expand. If approved, Seaport Sound Terminal SST will demolish 5 fossil fuel tanks on their property and replace them with 8 bigger tanks. This additional 166,856 barrels of fossil fuels will increase fossil fuel storage in the construction footprint by 1,434% - an approximate 14% increase in fossil fuel storage for the facility as a whole. We say ‘approximate’ because we cannot find the precise amount of total oil storage on site at Seaport Sound Terminal.

Unfortunately, the information needed to understand the storage capacity of oil terminals is not very accessible to the public, so we do our best to get the information we need to understand the growing threat of oil companies in our community.

This proposal is part of a clear trend. We’ve seen a growing interest from fossil fuel companies who want to set up shop in Tacoma while existing facilities continue to grow, despite the Tideflats Interim Regulations.

Written comments are due by 5pm on Monday September 21^st. We’ll be asking the City to make a Determination of Significance (DS) for Seaport Sound’s expansion proposal - which would force the City to complete a much for thorough environmental review of the project. We created an easy template for you to do the same HERE. It is easy and should take you less than 5 minutes! Comments can also be submitted directly to the City of Tacoma by emailing shirley.schultz@cityoftacoma.org.

It us up to the public to step up and demand that the City protects us from dangerous projects that further lock Tacoma into its role as a hub for the fossil fuel industry!