U-turn by Gregoire on oil-spill panel

Gov. Chris Gregoire switched direction Tuesday and gave her strong endorsement to a citizen-run council set up by the Legislature to look over the shoulder of state regulators and the shipping industry on oil-spill prevention measures.

Gregoire late last year announced moves that environmentalists said would "defang" the Oil Spill Advisory Council, patterned in part on a similar group in Alaska and headed by former state legislator Mike Cooper of Edmonds.

The Legislature headed off that move, but before Tuesday Gregoire hadn't strongly endorsed the panel. Asked about her position on the council now, Gregoire said:

"It's so important. Only if public engagement continues are we going to make sure we don't have complacency. ... The public has to be engaged and involved, and Mike and his group are making sure that happens."

Gregoire's endorsement came after state Sen. Harriet Spanel, D-Bellingham, who sponsored legislation to set up the council, prodded Gregoire to re-endorse the council. The governor's support was key when the council was established in 2005.

Cooper said it had been "a long six months" since Gregoire proposed moving the independent commission under the Department of Ecology, which environmentalists have characterized as too deferential to the shipping and oil industries.

"I was very encouraged," Cooper said. "Her strong public statement today delivered a clear message to everyone that this was a priority for her. ... It's certainly the strongest public comment she's made" since the council survived the legislative session.

Gregoire's comments came after she appeared beside Elliott Bay with Coast Guard Rear Adm. Richard Houck to sign an agreement designed to better coordinate the oil-spill prevention and response activities of Ecology and the Coast Guard.

The agreement is a more extensive version of a 2001 pact worked out by the Coast Guard and the administration of Gov. Gary Locke in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision.

The court's decision in a lawsuit brought by shipping interests and joined by the Coast Guard stripped the state of much of its ability to regulate marine safety, including requiring that ships' crews be proficient in English and that vessels be adequately staffed.

Washington's Oil Spill Advisory Council grew out of public furor over a nighttime oil spill in the waters off Vashon and Maury islands that ultimately was traced to the ConocoPhillips oil tanker Polar Texas. The company agreed to pay $2.3 million in fines and costs, but never admitted guilt.

The council is loosely patterned on the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens Advisory Council, which Congress set up to provide a professionally staffed, citizen-run counterweight to the oil industry and state government after the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989.

Unlike the Alaska council, though, Washington's includes industry representatives and, instead of a staff of 18, has two staffers -- half the number of, for example, the Washington Beef Commission.