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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County

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lwvsnohomishcounty@gmail.com

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(425) 334-8922

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P.O. Box 1146
Everett WA 98206

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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County

7 hours ago

Action Alert -- Environmental Issue - Local

Dear League Members,

Please take immediate action to OPPOSE Snohomish County's intention to greatly increase the supply of fracked gas in the county! We are hoping to exceed 1600 comments before the end of day tomorrow!

Here's the link to comment actionnetwork.org/letters/sno-co-planning-require-an-environmental-impact-statement-for-the-north...

LWVSC has signed on to the following letter as well which fully explains the danger of increasing this pipeline.

RE: Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance – N Seattle Lateral Upgrade

In regards to the recent Mitigated DNS decision by Snohomish County, we would like to submit the following comments on the North Seattle Lateral Upgrade.

The mitigation measures required by the County do not address the climate impacts of the project. Williams’ assertion that the full capacity of the new pipeline would not be used, and therefore the project resulted in much lower greenhouse gas emissions than previously calculated should not be accepted by the County, acting as lead SEPA agency for the project. Once the NSLU is constructed, there is no recourse by the County should Williams and PSE in fact use the pipeline’s full capacity. Meanwhile, global atmospheric methane gas levels continue to rise, reaching 1,867.2 parts per billion in Novermber 2018.1 Methane has an outsized impact on the pace of global warming, with 1 ton of atmospheric methane causing the same warming as 87 tons of CO2.2
However, recent research indicates that climate change can be dramatically reduced by rapid reduction in fossil fuel use.3 Public policy choices made will significantly impact our future ability to maintain a stable climate and viable environment for our children and grandchildren. It is for these reasons, Snohomish County should rescind the Mitigated DNS decision and require both an upstream emissions analysis to be conducted for the project by an independent third party, as well as require an Environmental Impact Statement.

1. NOAA. (2019.) Recent Global CH4. Earth System Research Laboratory Global Research Division. www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends_ch4/
2. Alvarez et al. (April 24, 2012.) Greater focus needed on methane leakage from natural gas infrastructure. Proceedings of the Natural Academies of Sciences of the United States of America. www.pnas.org/content/109/17/6435
3. Smith, et al. (Jan 15, 2019.) Current fossil fuel infrastructure does not yet commit us to 1.5 °C warming. Nature Communications. www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-07999-w

The County should not allow PSE and Williams to cause the environmental and climate damage that will result from this unnecessary project, which locks our region into increasing emissions for decades to come. In Williams’ January 23 correspondence with the County, the company stated that “The existing NSL is expected to continue to meet non-peak day and hour
demand even with projected growth in Snohomish County, as well as King County, over
the next 20 years, including 75,000 new homes for existing, new and in-migrating
Residents.” With this being the case, other avenues for addressing peak demand periods should be pursued, including contracts with industrial users including clauses for usage reduction during peak periods due to residential use.

Environmental impacts of the NSLU extend beyond increased greenhouse gas emissions; the damming of 15 streams, partly during spawning season, will negatively impact our declining local salmon population. At a time when Salish Sea orcas are starving due to decreased salmon runs, this project continues to deteriorate habitat of threatened species like Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon.

Significant safety concerns exist as well, with homes located as little as 11 feet from the pipeline, and the western part of the route running through a densely developed area. As recent gas explosions in Los Angeles (March 17, 2019,) Boston (September 14, 2018,) and Prince George, BC (October 9, 2018) has shown, methane gas use comes at a terrible cost. The existing pipeline should continue to be regularly inspected and properly maintained by Williams and PSE, as we move away from fossil fuel based energy.

Finally, on February 20th, the Snohomish County Council passed a resolution to achieve 100% clean electricity by 2030 and 100% clean energy by 2045 for government operations. We commend the County Council for taking steps to achieve carbon drawdown. However, these goals are at odds with the North Seattle Lateral Upgrade, which would remain in use by residential, commercial, and government customers- and a significant source of carbon emissions- for decades.

King County, meanwhile, has issued a moratorium on fossil fuel infrastructure, and has set a goal of countywide emissions reductions of 25% by 2020 against a 2007 baseline. With the NSLU feeding methane gas to end use consumers in both Snohomish and King Counties, the project is directly at odds with climate policy in both Counties. It is therefore questionable why County planning would allow permitting to be issued on this project.

We respectfully request that the County rescind the Mitigated DNS and require a third party upstream emissions analysis and Environmental Impact Statement. ... See MoreSee Less

Require an Environmental Impact Statement for the North Seattle Lateral!

actionnetwork.org

In October, the Snohomish County Planning Department issued a Determination of Nonsignificance for the North Seattle Lateral Upgrade fracked gas pipeline expansion in south Snohomish County. This project harms already threatened salmon in 15 streams during spawning season, at a time when our Salish....

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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County

3 weeks ago

Happy Birthday League of Women Voters!
99 years and growing stronger ... See MoreSee Less

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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County

3 weeks ago

Did you know you don't have to be a member of the LWVSC to join us in taking important and meaninful actions? The Natural Resources Committee is asking LWVSC Members and allies to contact Governor Inslee, Commissioner Franz and Secretary Millar as well as the Edmonds City Council to support an effort to restore the Edmonds Marsh. The committee was asked by the Sno-Isle Sierra Club and Save Our Marsh to support this on-going process to acquire access to vital waterways.

State property adjacent to the marsh is needed in order for streams to run free from a pipe and restore the link between the marsh and Puget Sound. Restoring this link is necessary for salmon spawning as well as the health of the marsh. WSDOT is acquiring the property and has not decided if they will allow it to be used for restoration of this estuary. We want to urge our Governor, Lands Commissioner, Secretary of Transportation and the Edmonds City Council to stand by their commitment to save salmon and orcas, and make this decision in favor of marsh recovery.

This request is based on the following League positions: the LWVUS supports policies that “reflect the interrelationships of water quality and quantity essential for maintaining species populations and diversity, including measures to protect lakes, estuaries, wetlands and in-stream flows.”

Please send your message in support. You might use all or part of the following, "As a member of the League of Women Voters of Snohomish County, I urge you to support restoration of the Edmonds Marsh and the adjacent critical salmon and bird habitat. The state property adjacent to the marsh is needed in order to prepare for streams to be daylighted and run free from a pipe. This will restore a precious tidal channel - the link between the marsh and Puget Sound. Restoring this link will provide necessary habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon migrating along the Puget Sound shoreline. In turn, increasing their abundance will feed starving orcas.

The time is now to promote the health of this marsh - one of the few urban saltwater remaining estuaries in Puget Sound and a critical flyway for over 90 migratory birds. Please allow this property to be used for restoration of this estuary.

Please support restoration of the Edmonds marsh and saltwater estuary."

Send your comments to:
Governor Jay Inslee
Phone: 360 902 4111
Fax: 360 753 4110
Office of the Governor
PO Box 40002
Olympia WA 98504-0002

Hilary Franz, Commissioner of Public Lands
cpl@dnr.wa.gov
360-902-1001
Office of the Commissioner of Public Lands
MS 47001
Olympia, WA 98504-7001

Roger Millar, Secretary, WA State Dept of Transportation
360-705-7000
MillarR@wsdot.wa.gov
PO Box 47300
Olympia, WA 98504-7300

Edmonds City Council
www.edmondswa.gov/city-council.html ... See MoreSee Less

edmondswa.gov

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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County

3 weeks ago

Tomorrow is the final day to RSVP for our
99th Birthday celebration
(see Facebook Event) ... See MoreSee Less

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League of Women Voters of Snohomish County shared a post.

1 month ago

Ready to stand up for democracy? Find an event with the below link and get ready to roar! ... See MoreSee Less

League of Women Voters of the U.S.

What do you want? Democracy? When do you want it? Now? Let's make sure U.S. Reps working to strengthen our democracy are rewarded for their efforts, and those who prefer for marginalize everyday Americans hear our roar. Find an event next week: bit.ly/2DD1aeF

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