Today “The Columbian” released a memo from last December about the Tesoro-Savage proposed oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver revealing deep concern from EFSEC.
OVERVIEW ON TESORO SAVAGE – OIL-BY-RAIL TERMINAL, VANCOUVER, WA:
- Capacity: 360,000 barrels/day, 36 trains/week
- Fact: Largest proposed oil-by-rail facility in North America, 42% of the capacity of Keystone XL pipeline.
- Status: Washington will prepare draft EIS in November-December 2015; Riverkeeper challenged the Port of Vancouver’s decision to lease public land for oil terminal.
STATEMENT FROM BRETT VANDENHEUVEL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COLUMBIA RIVERKEEPER:
“Tesoro has attempted to downplay the serious threat of building the nation’s largest oil-by-rail terminal in Vancouver. While Tesoro says that shipping oil on trains can be safe, the Vancouver Firefighters Union finds the safety threats of oil trains so severe that the firefighters oppose the terminal. We cannot trust an oil company that puts profits over safety.
The emerging questions about Tesoro’s oil terminal highlight how reckless the Port of Vancouver acted in approving a lease without understanding the impacts. The Port should consider all the information now and reject the lease.
We are confident that EFSEC is taking a hard look at the project and will produce a thorough and honest Environmental Impact Statement. It is clear that EFSEC is not going to trust blindly Tesoro’s analysis.”
BACKGROUND ON TESORO-SAVAGE PROPOSAL:
In summer 2013, the Port of Vancouver approved a lease agreement with Tesoro Savage to ship up to a staggering 360,000 barrels of crude oil each day along the Columbia River. The proposed oil terminal would require at least four, mile-and-a-half long unit trains per day. For communities along the Columbia and rail line, the consequences of a project of this magnitude are staggering.
Riverkeeper and its allies are working to overturn the Port’s lease and hold the Port accountable for holding secret meetings with Tesoro and Savage:
- Read Riverkeeper’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Reply Brief explaining how the Port illegally excluded the public from meetings about the oil lease. A court hearing on the Port’s Open Public Meetings Act violations will occur in Clark County Superior Court at 1:30 pm on July 24.
- Read Riverkeeper’s Opening and Reply briefs to the Washington State Court of Appeals explaining how the the Port illegally leased public land for an oil terminal before an Environmental Impact Statement disclosed the oil terminal’s environmental and human health risks. Listen to the oral arguments in that case here.
NEXT STEPS:
Tesoro Savage now must get approval from Governor Inslee because the quantity of oil proposed is so large. The Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) will make a recommendation to the Governor on the unprecedented project and, then, the Governor will make the final decision to deny or approve the terminal. Hundreds rally and attend October 29th hearing to ask EFSEC and Governor Inslee to reject the massive oil terminal proposed at Port of Vancouver
LEARN MORE:
- Riverkeeper’s fact sheet on the Tesoro Savage Project
- Riverkeeper’s overview of the EFSEC process
- Riverkeeper and partners challenge Port’s closed-door decision on oil lease
- Riverkeeper and allies EFSEC scoping comments. Thanks to the excellent legal team at Earthjustice for their work on this.
GET INVOLVED:
Contact Dan Serres, Riverkeeper’s Conservation Director, at dan@columbiariverkeeper.org with any questions or comments related to any of Northwest oil-by-rail proposals OR if you’d like to get involved.
