Cargo Business Newswire

Monday, March 2, 2015

Lawsuit threatened after Seattle port makes deal with Shell Oil

Now that Shell Oil has signed the lease for the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 5, Foss Maritime is expecting maintenance work on two oil rigs and other ships from Shell’s Arctic fleet.

"These projects will bring hundreds of good maritime jobs to the Seattle waterfront and millions of dollars of revenue to the port," said Foss Maritime spokesman Paul Query.

But environmentally concerned citizens are angered that the publicly financed Port of Seattle is supporting oil drilling in the environmentally sensitive Arctic, and

disregarding the acceleration of climate change caused by carbon emissions.

Opponents threaten to sue the port if the $13 million lease isn't rescinded, but a leading environmental lawyer is unsure about the prospects for success.

"A lawsuit is never going to be a silver bullet in this particular situation," said prominent environmental lawyer Peter Goldman.

For more of the KIRO TV story: www.kirotv.com