The State Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state Ocean Resources Management Act applies to the proposed oil storage and transportation facility at the Port of Grays Harbor, meaning the project would have to stand up to much more strict environmental scrutiny to proceed.

“Because the entire purpose of respondents’ (Contanda and the state Department of Ecology) projects is to store and transfer fuel from Washington’s coast to Washington’s waters, the projects fit squarely within ORMA’s broad reach,” according to the Court’s decision.

EarthJustice attorneys, who represented the Quinault Indian Nation and others in the suit, say the decision effectively ends Contanda’s plan to build the facility.

“The Court honored a law enacted to protect our natural ocean resources from oil shipping,” said Kristen Boyles, the Earthjustice attorney who argued the case for the Tribe and conservation groups. “Today’s decision not only revives state ocean protections, but effectively blocks proposed oil shipping terminals from being built in Grays Harbor.”

Quinault Indian Nation President Fawn Sharp wrote, “The Quinault Indian Nation joins all of Grays Harbor in celebrating today’s monumental victory to keep crude oil out of our shared waters and ancestral territory. Like so many of our neighbors across the county, we envision a healthy and pristine natural environment and a thriving, clean, and sustainable economy. After four very long years of fighting for those basic ideals, today’s decision is a significant step toward achieving our collective vision.”

The state high court justices overturned a lower court ruling that the Ocean Resources Management Act (ORMA) did not apply to oil shipping terminals. The Court held:

“ORMA is designed to address environmental threats to our coastal waters and specifically addresses the threats posed by increased expansion of the fossil fuel industry along the Pacific Coast. … The language of the statute indicates that the legislature intended it to combat current environmental dangers and to preemptively protect the coastline from future environmental risks.”

Calls to a Contanda spokesman were not immediately returned, but a statement is forthcoming.

Groups opposed to the oil terminal were quick to celebrate the decision.

“We know what we have here in Grays Harbor with our active commercial, recreational, and tribal fishing fleets, our beautiful beaches that draw families to explore, play, and relax, and our coastal waters that support thousands of migrating seabirds every year,” said R.D. Grunbaum, Friends of Grays Harbor. “These natural resources and values are simply incompatible with industrial oil shipping.”

“This is a strong decision protecting and preserving coastal communities now and into the future,” said Dale Beasley, President of the Coalition of Coastal Fisheries, a group that includes Washington commercial fishermen, oyster growers, and charter boat operators. “Today’s decision gives commercial fishermen another handle to protect our livelihoods.”

In late 2013, the Quinault Indian Nation, Friends of Grays Harbor, Sierra Club, Grays Harbor Audubon, and Citizens for a Clean Harbor (co-counseled by Earthjustice attorneys Kristen Boyles and Matt Baca and Knoll Lowney of Smith and Lowney) successfully challenged the initial permits issued for oil shipping terminal projects on Grays Harbor, forcing further public safety and environmental review. At one point, three separate oil storage and shipping facilities were planned, all on Port of Grays Harbor land in Hoquiam.

Two of the three initial proposals dropped out, leaving the Westway (recently renamed Contanda) Terminal project as the only active proposal. The Final Environmental Impact Statement for Westway, issued in September 2016, found that there were significant harms and risks from the oil shipping terminal and recommended a long list of actions that could mitigate potential harm.

The city of Hoquiam is currently making a decision on Westway’s permit application and that was expected as early as next month. It’s not clear what will happen to that process now. Hoquiam officials could not be reached for this story.

EarthJustice claims, “With today’s Supreme Court decision, ORMA’s protective standards must now be applied, and Westway simply will not be able to meet those higher requirements.”