No Oilport was founded in 1976 to prevent construction of a supertanker port and interstate pipeline at Port Angeles. This group organized not only to battle petroleum companies, but also to oppose another environmental organization, the Coalition Against Oil Pollution (CAOP). CAOP endorsed a compromise plan to build a supertanker port and interstate pipeline at Port Angeles on the Strait of Juan de Fuca to prevent them from being built in the more ecologically sensitive Puget Sound. No Oilport members and other environmentalists rejected this compromise, arguing that Washington should not have any supertanker port and should not serve as an entry point for the transshipment of oil to inland states.

Supertankers and interstate pipelines became an issue in Washington state during the energy crisis of the 1970s. Previously, the upper Midwest of the US got much of its crude from Canada, but the Canadian government began to cut back on this supply and announced that after 1982 it would no longer export oil. To compensate for this loss, more crude had to be brought in from the Middle East, Indonesia, and the newly-exploited fields of Alaska. Puget Sound was a logical receiving point for much of this oil, where there were already refineries and where a pipeline could be built to transport crude to Minnesota. The Northern Tier Pipeline Company was the first to propose a pipeline from Washington to the Midwest, and remained at the center of debates throughout the period. However, when politicians and environmentalists blocked Northern Tier’s attempts to build a supertanker port and pipeline in Puget Sound, Northern Tier took CAOP’s advice and began making plans to build their “superport” at Port Angeles. CAOP had argued that there would be less chance for a spill in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and that a spill there would be less harmful than one in Puget Sound.

Norma Turner, a Port Angeles housewife who founded No Oilport, became aware of oil issues in 1975 when she served as chairperson for the Oilport Information Committee, a group formed to investigate the siting of a Puget Sound oilport. The information she received about oilports and supertankers disturbed her, and when environmentalists from CAOP proposed building a superport and pipeline in Port Angeles, she organized No Oilport and became its president.

Many Port Angeles citizens and environmentalists across the state opposed a Port Angeles superport. They feared it would bring too much pollution to the city, and were afraid of the effects of an oil spill on the environment and the local marine economy. In a local plebiscite, 65 percent of Port Angeles voters opposed constructing a superport in their city. Rather than accept a compromise for importing crude oil, No Oilport felt it would be best for Washington not to serve as the entry point for any transshipment of oil. Members of No Oilport were not alone in their opposition to CAOP’s compromise plan. Not only did many environmentalists oppose a superport in Port Angeles, but they also feared that a pipeline extending across the state would be hazardous. In 1977, the Washington Environmental Council passed a resolution opposing any transshipment of oil through Washington state. In 1978, the Seattle Audubon Society withdrew its membership in CAOP, and the Coalition’s lobbyist resigned in protest in 1979. No Oilport and these other environmentalists opposed all transshipment of oil across Washington state.

CAOP had asked for a pipeline to be built around Puget Sound, but in 1980 the Coalition endorsed Northern Tier’s final plan to build a superport in Port Angeles with a pipeline running through Puget Sound. However, No Oilport, along with seven other environmental organizations, nine Indian tribes, and two local governments, tried to block the plan through litigation. Finally, in 1981, the Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council sided with No Oilport and recommended that Governor John Spellman reject the company’s application. Despite pressure from the Reagan administration and many national politicians, Spellman vetoed the application. As of 1997, no supertanker port or major interstate pipeline has been built in Washington state.

No Oilport disbanded in 1984.