"...we should have to reimburse the county for any expenses."

...or so Gary Coppedge says in this Daily News article about the Cowlitz County Council.

Cowlitz County officials are charged with reviewing environmental documents where they relate to the pipeline and plan to hire a consulting firm to do the work.

Ken Stone, who oversees the county's public works and building and planning departments, said Northern Star initially will front $20,000 for the consulting work and pay more if necessary.
Stone said the county is turning to an independent consultant because it doesn't have the staff to review the documents.

Gary Coppedge, Northern Star's vice president of development, said his company is "comfortable" with the arrangement. "I think it shows a good working relationship with the county," he said. "It's appropriate that we should have to reimburse the county for any expenses."

One has to wonder if Northern Star thinks they should be reimbursing all the counties and groups impacted by their proposal. If so, I believe there is a large, and growing, group of homeowners and business people who want to talk about their current expenses and future losses. Because examining every bit of information NS submits to FERC, attending meetings, hiring consultants is expensive. Staying up nights worrying about what might happen to our beautiful river, community, and way of life carries an incalculable cost...if this was a commercial, we might call it priceless.