by TRIBAL NEWS STAFF
Updating the City of Tacoma Human Rights Commission (THRC) on Puyallup Tribal No LNG campaign, Councilmembers Annette Bryan and Anna Bean presented alongside Puyallup Tribal member Dakota Case on February 21, 2019.
The role of the Tacoma Human Rights Commission is to ensure that the City encourages and coordinates the implementation of programs consistent with the needs and rights of all its residents. The group of Puyallup leaders presented to the Tacoma Human Rights Commission because there have been violations in the process of construction of the Puget Sound Energy (PSE) Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) facility on the Tacoma Tideflats. These violations will negatively impact Puyallup Tribal members and other communities of color. The LNG Facility is being built without proper consultation with the Puyallup Tribe.
The DSEIS assumes that construction of the facility has not started, which is troublesome in that construction has already begun and continues. If a noaction scenario is enacted by Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, they will have to deal with the impacts of construction that are not scoped in the review. In the presentation to their THRC, the Councilmembers detailed, “Our community includes those people who are living in the Northwest Detention Center. Which is of particular concern as there is no official document explaining how the community of 1,600 people who are detained there would be kept safe in the event of an emergency.”
Stating that the future our communities depends on the choices we make today, the Councilmembers requested that the Human Rights Commission advises the City of Tacoma to conduct its own SEIS analysis along with the Department of Ecology as a co-lead in that review.
Photo: Councilmembers Bean and Bryan presenting to the Tacoma Human Rights Commission with Dakota Case.
