Tacoma, WA – On October 14, a group of several dozen Tacoma activists gathered in the sunset of Fireman’s Park to oppose the expansion of the city’s liquid natural gas (LNG) plant. The event was organized by a broad coalition of Black, brown, indigenous, and other liberation movement groups, led by the of the Coast Salish Water Warriors (WW).
Speaker Marilyn Kimmerling with Climate Alliance of the South Sound (CASS) explained that the LNG facility near the Port of Tacoma is both a refinery and storage place. The oil travels from across the country through underground pipelines to the LNG plant at Tacoma’s tide flats. Within those pipes are gaskets, components which connect the lengths of pipe together. Such gaskets are notorious for failing, resulting in leaks.
In Tacoma, the gaskets are close to both schools and housing, usually in low-income areas such as reservation land. “The facility is an 8-million-gallon facility,” said Kimmerling. “The gas is chilled to -215 degrees so it can be condensed into a liquid, [allowing for] more storage. If the tank leaks, the gas expands and could easily explode.”
Even without expansion, the LNG plant as-is is already in violation of regulations. According to marine safety regulations, LNG tanks must be at least three miles away from human habitation due to the serious risk of explosion. The LNG refinery also releases methane, tons of particulate matter, and toxic chemicals such as benzine, a known brain carcinogen.
“Methane is 82 times more responsible for climate change [than CO2],” Kimmerling continued. “It’s not in the atmosphere as long as carbon, but it’s faster at polluting the environment.” It is no surprise, then, that environmentally damaging facilities like Tacoma’s LNG plant are built in low-income areas.
Kimmerling explained that not only is the LNG plant in violation of the 1854 Treaty of Medicine Creek, which is supposed to guarantee the hunting and fishing rights of the local tribes, but it was also built without a legal permit. Moreover, the 8-million-gallon tank is situated on a landfill in the tide flats. The tide flats themselves are at sea level, which is already rising due to climate change, and the plant is in an earthquake zone, a lava flow zone, and built in a location that is difficult to effectively evacuate.
If an explosion were to occur, the 5000-degree temperatures would incinerate everything in the immediate blast radius, including people. The Northwest Detention Center, a 1500-bed facility used by ICE to detain immigrants, is located in that blast zone, and there is no evacuation plan in place in the event of an explosion or other disaster. The five-mile radius of a potential LNG explosion also encompasses most of the city of Tacoma. Even when functioning normally, the refinery pollutes the water, where salmon are already a threatened species.
After the speeches at the park, the crowd mobilized to Tacoma City Hall where the city council meeting was in session. The group merged with a larger contingent of community members who took the opportunity to advocate their Stop The Sweeps campaign. Local faith groups like Common Good and organizations like Tacoma DSA delivered speeches outside City Hall on other issues, including the housing crisis. They shared statistics on the number of people who die on the streets of Tacoma, which is in the thousands. Other speakers pointed out that many of Tacoma’s unhoused people are disabled, as Social Security doesn’t pay them enough to live on.
Most of the attendees then entered City Hall to make public comments at the city council meeting. It was filled to capacity as the city council removed the first two rows of seats and tried to erect a barrier to shield the councilmembers from the outrage of their supposed constituents.
Tacoma’s mayor, who had been in attendance for the first half of the council meeting, slipped out before the second half began because she could not be bothered to listen to public comments. CASS delivered their statement about the LNG plant in 90-second chunks delivered by different members due to the restrictions placed on public comment by the council, which asked attendees to “be nice” as they were “tired.” When a member of the local Black Panther Party Ovunayo X came up to speak, his microphone was shut off abruptly after his allotted 90 seconds, after which the council quickly walked out.
“Anti-people policies like the camping ban and expansion of the LNG facility show the true interest of the city council,” said Aife Pasquale, a member of CASS. “They will always put profit over the people, and bend to the whims of capitalism. The people of Tacoma, however, do not accept this without a fight. Today a wide coalition of organizations united to push against these policies and stand for what’s right!”
#TacomaWA #WA #Environment #CASS
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