We will appeal this decision. More fundamentally, the people making decisions about NEXT must start listening to the farmers who actually operate the dikes and drainage systems in the area: Port Westward is not a safe or suitable place for a massive refinery and rail yard.
- Dan Serres, Advocacy Director for Columbia Riverkeeper.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Community Members and Columbia Riverkeeper See Major Flaws in Columbia County Approval of NEXT Rail Yard, Plan to Appeal
Media Contacts:
Audrey Leonard, Staff Attorney, Columbia Riverkeeper, (541) 399-4775
Jasmine Lillich, Save Port Westward, (503) 412-8678
Port Westward, OR (March 6, 2024)—Today, the Columbia County Board of Commissioners approved two permits for a large rail yard associated with Houston-based NEXT Renewables’ proposal to build a non-conventional diesel refinery at Port Westward.
NEXT proposes to build multiple miles of rail tracks along with a large refinery—including a hydrogen production facility that would make hydrogen from fracked gas—on unstable soil amid farms and wetlands.
Despite these conflicts—and the fact that NEXT had promised community members that the proposed refinery would not involve significant train traffic—the County approved two applications for the rail yard and stormwater facilities. The area at issue includes land that was recently farmed by local mint farmer Warren Seely; Seely lost access to productive mint fields as a result of NEXT’s proposal.
“Our community has stood firmly against this project ever since NEXT started shifting plans and breaking promises by adding multiple miles of track into our community along with an ever-changing refinery proposal,” said Mike Seely, a local mint farmer in the drainage district that would be impacted by the proposed rail yard and refinery. “We were told there would be no major rail impact. The rail yard plan will harm our farms by disrupting drainage, irrigation, and access to our crops.”
Others in the community pointed to the broader problems with NEXT’s rail proposal: long trains passing through Columbia County communities on a nearly daily basis.
“The proposal faces staunch opposition from the local community at Port Westward, but also people uprail in Columbia County who are concerned about the long trains NEXT is proposing to use. NEXT initially promised not to do this very thing, saying they would avoid long trains for bringing in feedstocks,” said Brandon Schilling, a local farmer with Save Port Westward. “The addition of this rail yard and long trains carrying toxic materials, bleaching clays, soybean oil and other unsustainable feedstocks underscores how this project has morphed into a monster that the community cannot support. The risks and impacts outweigh the benefits, and we are disappointed the County chose to dismiss these problems. There will be additional permitting processes, and NEXT will continue to face opposition to these plans because they are harmful to the community.”
News of the County’s approval immediately sparked plans to appeal the decision by community members and Columbia Riverkeeper.
“The issues that have been raised by the community demonstrate that this rail yard and refinery would conflict with the existing uses,” said Dan Serres, Advocacy Director for Columbia Riverkeeper. “We will appeal this decision. More fundamentally, the people making decisions about NEXT must start listening to the farmers who actually operate the dikes and drainage systems in the area: Port Westward is not a safe or suitable place for a massive refinery and rail yard.”
Recent events cast a shadow over the NEXT project, calling into question whether the project is financially viable in addition to major concerns raised by the local community. In November 2023, NEXT acknowledged that a proposed merger, which was supposed to generate $176 million, had fallen through. Also in November, NEXT requested that the Port of Columbia County defer a large portion of NEXT’s monthly rent payments because the project had an uncertain future. NEXT is not making full rent payments, and so the Port has not been paid over $280,000 in rent.
Background/Resources
In 2022, Columbia Riverkeeper, 1000 Friends of Oregon, and local farmer Mike Seely were represented by Crag Law Center in a Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) case in which LUBA concluded that a portion of the rail yard was not a “branch line,” as NEXT argued in order to justify the rail yard on agricultural land. In the new proposals, NEXT has shifted some project locations and designs, but the same fundamental problem exists. And NEXT’s new plans involve major new features, including hundreds of feet of new unlined ponds amid an area with saturated soils, high groundwater, and sensitive drainage systems. NEXT’s proposal also caused local farmers to lose access to productive agricultural fields.
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Urge the Denial of NEXT Refinery Rail Yard Conditional Use Permit and Modification of Prior Approval
