Economy

About this series

The Columbian’s three-day series is the result of a months-long examination of more than 1,700 public documents; testimony and remarks delivered during public meetings; and interviews with open-government experts, Port of Vancouver officials, and others.

The public documents analyzed include more than 300 pages of depositions taken of port commissioners as part of an ongoing lawsuit that accuses the port of violating the state’s open public meetings law in deciding the oil terminal lease.

The initial lawsuit, filed in October 2013, cited information contained in a July 31 story by The Columbian that first revealed apparent breaches by the port of the open public meetings law. For the series, the newspaper obtained other documents through public disclosure requests. Those records include port emails, commission agenda materials and an internal report.

— Aaron Corvin

A COLUMBIAN SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

Three-part series

SUNDAY: Commissioners defer key decisions to port staff.

MONDAY: Sealing the oil terminal deal behind the scenes.

TUESDAY: The port faces political fallout.

Documents and analysis show port has kept public in the dark about oil terminal and other issues

By Aaron Corvin, Columbian port & economy reporter
Published: May 17, 2015, 5:59 AM

The Port of Vancouver is a government body that's beholden to its voters and taxpayers.

Yet its elected officials embrace a culture of secrecy, meeting behind closed doors "about 95 percent of the time," as one commissioner put it in a court deposition, and making decisions inside a bubble of deference to the port administration and the private industries it courts. As a result, the powerful port often sidesteps full public accountability, which is one reason why it faces impassioned political and legal challenges to its decision to approve what would be the nation's largest rail-to-marine oil transfer terminal.

That's the picture that emerges from an investigation by The Columbian based on an examination of port practices, a review of documents obtained through public records requests, and interviews with open-government advocates and experts in Washington's sunshine laws. The analysis points to a pattern by CEO Todd Coleman and elected commissioners Nancy Baker, Brian Wolfe and Jerry Oliver of keeping the community in the dark about crucial financial, and policy issues before making decisions and of improper use of closed-door executive sessions to hash out safety, environmental and financial issues, among others, meant to be aired in public.

The port's pattern of secrecy isn't new. But its pursuit of the oil transfer terminal has ramped up the stakes immeasurably. It faces legal challenges to both its unanimous oil terminal decision and its decision-making practices. Its relationships with political leaders concerned about or openly opposed to the oil-handling facility are now strained. And the battle over oil has morphed into a rare political challenge: a reform-minded citizen group is calling for transparency and for new elected port leaders.

By Aaron Corvin, Columbian port & economy reporter
Published: May 18, 2015, 6:00 AM

Even the most vigilant of Port of Vancouver watchers couldn't have foreseen how the port and two private companies were paving the way behind closed doors for quick local approval of what would be the nation's largest oil-to-marine transfer terminal.

Before the public had heard a single word about the terminal, the port had agreed to negotiate exclusively with Tesoro Corp., a petroleum refiner, and Savage Companies, a transportation company, on their potential use of Terminal 5 and other port facilities. In court depositions, two of the three elected commissioners gave conflicting statements about whether the commission had approved the exclusive discussions or whether the port's CEO, Todd Coleman, used his administrative authority to sign off on it.

The dealings included a private pitch by Tesoro and Savage officials – with a BNSF Railway executive in attendance – to the port's elected commissioners: Nancy Baker, Jerry Oliver and Brian Wolfe. And, on the eve of a vote on a lease for the oil transfer terminal, commissioners held a secret meeting to discuss public comments, and to ask questions about safety and pollution liability insurance, public records show. A lawsuit against the port alleges commissioners' discussions went far beyond what is allowed in closed-door executive sessions.

These details and more are emerging only now, largely because of the paper trail and depositions generated by the lawsuit that accuses the Port of Vancouver of violating Washington's open public meetings law in deciding the oil terminal contract.

Port of Vancouver's secretive handling of issue spurs calls for more transparency

By Aaron Corvin, Columbian port & economy reporter
Published: May 19, 2015, 6:00 AM

The Port of Vancouver's tight lid on the public's business may be coming off.

Sparked by the port's insular handling of a lease for what would be the nation's largest rail-to-marine oil transfer terminal, reform-minded critics are pushing the port to embrace a more transparent approach to making decisions. Some are jumping into the race for an open seat on the port commission, hoping to change the organization from within.

The port's pursuit of the oil terminal seems like a no-brainer, given that ports nationwide handle a variety of commodities. Yet the proposal by Tesoro Corp., a petroleum refiner, and Savage Companies, a transportation company, jangles more than a few nerves in Clark County and elsewhere. Defective tank cars, oil spills, volatile crude from North Dakota's Bakken oil fields, a string of explosive oil train accidents – those and other factors have stirred opposition from many quarters, ranging from the city of Vancouver and Washougal's school district to Native American tribes and a private developer of Vancouver's waterfront.

Others have stayed away from the fray over the siting of oil terminals. The Port of Portland, no stranger to a variety of cargoes, backed off the oil-by-rail market, announcing last spring that it didn't have "sufficient answers" to environmental and safety questions. For its part, the Port of Vancouver on April 28 approved a resolution supporting proposed federal legislation to immediately ban the use of unsafe tank cars, among other beefed-up safety steps. The port's resolution also expressed support for a recently passed state bill that includes an oil spill response tax to cover rail tank cars.