Oregon DEQ Approves Permit for Two Oil Trains Each Day Through Portland, Other Communities
For Immediate Release
[PORTLAND, OR] — Despite receiving thousands of public comments urging denial of an air pollution permit for Global Partners’ potential oil terminal near Clatskanie, Oregon, DEQ hastily renewed the air contaminant discharge permit for the project. The permit would allow up to two loaded, 100-car oil trains each day to deliver crude oil to the Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery, facilitating oil train traffic through Portland, Vancouver, and Columbia County communities.
“DEQ’s decision to permit up to two loaded oil trains each day through our region is a stunning slap in the face to every Northwest resident who is concerned about oil trains, air pollution, and the safety of our communities,” said Dan Serres, Conservation Director for Columbia Riverkeeper. “DEQ bent over backwards to rush this permit renewal forward despite receiving thousands of comments in opposition to oil-by-rail. DEQ’s decision is a narrow-minded mistake that will lead to more toxic air pollution. Worse yet, it could lead to an oil spill or a devastating oil train derailment like we saw in Mosier four years ago.”
"We urged DEQ not to approve this permit for oil transloading because it poses a dramatic health and safety risk for communities in Columbia County," said Darrel Whipple, Co-Chair of Envision Columbia County. "We are deeply disappointed that DEQ didn't even consider the potential air pollution implications of handling heavier types of crude, which the Port of Columbia County specifically allowed in a controversial December 2018 vote. This is a mistake that could cause real harm to Columbia County towns, our clean water, and our safety."
The decision sparked concern from community leaders along potential rail routes, including in Portland and in Vancouver, as well.
"DEQ's myopic approval ignores Pacific Northwest integrated ecosystems, and the inherent health risks GP's permit poses along each mile of the journey," said Elisabeth Holmes, Staff Attorney for Willamette Riverkeeper. "We had hoped DEQ to have an appreciation for the state-wide risks GP's proposal raises."
"Vancouver said "NO" to an oil terminal at our Port, protecting our community from an increase in dangerous oil trains. We are dismayed that Oregon's DEQ failed to listen to our many voices, thereby putting Vancouver and all rail communities in the path of more danger from these polluting bomb trains,” said Cathryn Chudy, a volunteer with the Sierra Club's SW Washington Beyond Fossil Fuels Task Force and a Board member with the Oregon Conservancy Foundation.
In June, a coalition of organizations filed detailed technical comments that highlighted the importance of ratcheting back potential pollution from oil train traffic. DEQ sided with oil company Global Partners in dismissing the concerns of the coalition.
