Bob Ferguson: “I'm deeply saddened to hear that there have been fatalities.”

If a project of this scale is going to proceed, it needs to come with a corresponding commitment to also increase our region’s capacity to prevent and respond to a catastrophic spill.

That said, causing significant harm and inconvenience to the people of Washington state is not the way to address those issues.

Given the significant financial challenges we face in our near-term budget, this is not a problem that can be solved immediately.

I was disappointed at the decision because resources needed to respond to a major spill are insufficient today.