Vice President of Crowley Wind Services Jeffrey Andreini (right) pictured with Harbor District Commission President Greg Dale (left) and Harbor District Executive Director Larry Oetker (center). Photo by Isabella Vanderheiden.
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Following yesterday’s news that Crowley Wind Services Vice-President Jeffrey Andreini is no longer with the company, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District shared a letter with the Outpost emphasizing the district’s commitment to working with local tribes and the broader community to uphold “the highest ethical standards” for the district and its partners.
The letter (which is copied below) states that the Harbor District “takes the allegations of sexual harassment very seriously” and underscores the district’s commitment to “fairness and protection for the most vulnerable in our community.”
The letter quotes from a recent report – “How to Protect Native Women, Girls, and People in Humboldt & Del Norte County as Offshore Wind Enters the Region: MMIP Prevention Planning and Recommendations” – and states the district’s intent to commit to the recommendations listed in the document.
However, the letter does not mention the district’s partnership with Crowley.
Reached for additional comment this morning, Larry Oetker, executive director of the Harbor District, confirmed that the district will continue its partnership with Crowley. Oetker noted that the mega grant application the district recently sent to the federal government included language that would allow the district to go through a new selection process “if the current negotiations are not successful.”
“Following a competitive proposal process conducted in 2022, the District has entered into an ‘Exclusive Right to Negotiate’ with Crowley Wind Services,” according to the statement, referencing the terminal on the Samoa Peninsula that the company hopes to build to service the offshore wind industry.
“If the current negotiations are not successful to the satisfaction of the District and the overall community, then the District will go through a new competitive process to select a new contract operator. If the current negotiations are successful to the satisfaction of the District and the overall community, then the District will enter into a lease with Crowley.”
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Letter from the Harbor District:
The Harbor District takes the allegations of sexual harassment very seriously and hold the safety and well-being of our community paramount. As a governmental organization we have a public trust responsibility to our community, employees, and visitors. The public expects that the District and all of our contractors will conduct their operations to the highest ethical standards.
The District, along with our federal, State, and local partners, have established ambitious goals to develop the offshore wind resources off our North Coast. As a result of this development, it is projected that over the next twenty plus years, our region will experience billions of dollars of investment directly offshore and to modernize our aging port infrastructure. This investment will largely be coming from multinational companies that have thousands of employees spread throughout the world. The District, County, Tribal Governments, and community have made it clear that we will not sell out our community for money!
The District is not only planning for the most technologically advanced and greenest port possible, but also is committed that it is built and operated in a way that respects and benefits all members of our community and addresses historical inequities. Any partner that we have in this endeavor must clearly demonstrate an organizational structure of fairness and protection for the most vulnerable in our community, and we will work with all members of our community to ensure that this is the case.
As stated in the June 21, 2023, report by the Yurok Tribal Court titled: How to Protect Native Women, Girls, and People in Humboldt & Del Norte County as Offshore Wind Enters the Region: MMIP Prevention Planning and Recommendations: “As offshore wind development occurs in the Northern Coast of California, concerns have grown about the safety of Native women, girls, and people in the region. Given the historical and present day crisis of sex trafficking and Missing and Murdered Indigenous people in California and the United States, special attention, prevention planning, and agreements are needed to ensure the safety of Native people in the region.”
“This memo examines how to prevent MMIP and sex trafficking during a development boom, based on research of best practices as well as discussion with key advocates in the MMIP policy space. From the research, we can conclude that there must be a strong, comprehensive community benefit agreement in place between local Tribes and the corporations profiting from development.1 The community benefit agreements must be multi-faceted, covering prevention, education, and response. This includes agreements with the community as well as agreements to adopt and implement critical corporate policies. There must be (1) agreement to hold pre-development impact assessment meetings with Native communities to hear from and share information with Native communities; (2) agreement that the company hold ongoing and regular meetings with Native Communities to share and receive information; Page 2 of 2 (3) agreement to conduct extensive background checks on all employees, to the full extent permitted under law to reduce the chances of people with sex offenses coming to the region to prey on Native women, girls and people; (4) agreement to monitor and ensure safety in employee housing; (5) agreement to ensure that Tribal people and vulnerable populations living on/near port development site have access to transportation; (6) agreement to tag company and worker vehicles so that all new cars and drivers in the region can be properly identified; (7) agreement to conduct employee training on Native people and the culture of local Tribes as well training on preventing human trafficking; (8) agreement to coordinate with and support stronger law enforcement in the region; (9) agreement to support victim services and social services programs to respond to any increase in crime and victimization; (10) agreement to source employees locally and to invest in local workforce development.
The community benefit agreement should also mandate that the company have or adopt corporate policies to prevent MMIP and trafficking. This includes adopting (1) a best practice compact from the United Nations or World Bank, (2) policies that ensure board oversight of community relations, human rights, and social performance, (3) a strong code of conduct for all employees, (4) a mandate that corporate partners and contractors are in compliance with all of the same policies and (5) strong whistleblower protections.”
The District holds our responsibility to the community very seriously and we are committed to working with the Tribes, community and industry to implement the recommendations outlined in the report.
Respectfully Submitted:
Larry Oetker
Executive Director
Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District
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