Houston-based NEXT Renewables to build a massive non-conventional diesel refinery at Port Westward. NEXT proposes to locate multiple miles of rail tracks along with a huge refinery on unstable soil, amid wetlands, next to blueberry and mint crops, near homes, and across the road from a Buddhist monastery.
Governor Kotek & Oregon DEQ:
Please deny the Clean Water Act Section 401 Permit for the proposed NEXT Renewable Fuels diesel refinery and rail yard at Port Westward. The proposal flies in the face of Oregon’s clean water protections, and the developer’s own studies show that toxic runoff would harm fish in the Columbia River Estuary.
The proposed refinery and rail yard would degrade the quality of Oregon’s waters and violate Oregon’s water quality standards. NEXT would pollute essential fish habitat, even without a huge spill—which is far too likely in such a sensitive, unstable location.
Meanwhile, the local community at Port Westward has identified alarming flaws in NEXT’s proposal, including potential impacts to tenuous dikes that are prone to overtopping in a flood, harm to sensitive wetlands, and disruption of important agricultural drainage and irrigation systems.
Oregon’s plan to transition away from storing dangerous, flammable, toxic, liquid fuel on unstable ground near the Columbia River should not veer off track by creating a massive new pollution risk in the Estuary. The entire region depends on a healthy, clean Columbia River.
So much is at stake. We are counting on DEQ to prevent the NEXT spill before it starts.