WHATCOM COUNTY,Wash. -- Operators of oil refineries including the BP Cherry Point and Conoco Phillips refineries in Whatcom County are keeping a close eye on proposed legislation in Olympia.
Environmentalists are supporting a bill that would significantly raise an existing tax on some environmentally hazardous substances, such as oil products.
Backers say the tax would raise $225 million-dollars a year that could be applied to the state's budget deficit.
Opponents say it would result in higher prices at the gas pump.
A bill to impose a new tax on crude oil refined in the state has died in the legislature.
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