It's been awhile since we've posted about the proposal to build the largest oil terminal in North America within the City of Vancouver and our campaign to Protect the Columbia River. With the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) meeting soon to review the Final Environmental Impact Statement and make their recommendations to Governor Jay Inslee for the final decision, we thought it might be a good time to catch up on this important campaign.
As a quick refresher, if you follow this blog, you'll know that we've written on this topic extensively in the past. The Vancouver campaign is part of our larger efforts as a voice for recreational ocean users in the Thin Green Line to prevent fossil fuel export development from threatening our coastal communities and quality of life here in Washington as part of the Stand Up To Oil Campaign.
Project Background: Tesoro Savage has proposed to develop the largest oil terminal in North America on the banks of the Columbia River in Vancouver. If built, this facility would handle 360,000 barrels of crude oil per day, arriving via 5 fully loaded trains (each train over 1 mile long) per day, and leaving via one large tanker vessel per day down the Columbia and onto the Pacific Ocean. This massive volume of oil is approximately half the volume of the Keystone XL pipeline that received huge opposition, the methods of transport for this proposal are far more dangerous, and put the ecologically important & recreationally significant corners of SW Washington and NW Oregon in jeopardy.
Recommendation to Governor Inslee Expected on Tuesday, November 28th @ 1 pm in Olympia
Washington’s Energy Council released its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on November 21st for the Tesoro Savage oil train terminal that poses incredible dangers to Columbia River communities and our climate. Now, the Council is expected to issue their recommendation to Governor Inslee on the project.
If you would like to attend, here is the information. There will be a rally immediately following.
HEARING INFORMATION
November 28, 2017, 1:00 PM - 5PM
John B Cherberg Building, Capitol Campus
Senate Hearing Room #4
304 15th Ave SW, Olympia, WA 98501
There are four key areas where the Tesoro project would cause significant and unavoidable harm:
- Seismic: ground-shaking and liquefaction (p. ES-12)
- Rail/pedestrian accidents (p. ES-15 to ES-16)
- Rail traffic delay at at-grade crossings: increase emergency response times (p. ES-18)
- Disproportional impacts to minority and low-income populations due to: decrease in property values, gate downtime impacting motorists and emergency responders, increased noise (p.ES-19)
Read more on the FEIS overview here.
Take Action Today and Tell Governor Inslee to Stop The Largest Oil Terminal in North America!
