POV-rail-cars-east-2011At the June 2 meeting of the Vancouver City Council, port leaders urged city council members to let the proposed crude oil handling facility make its way through the environmental review process before taking a vote of any kind on the project. Unfortunately, council moved forward and approved a resolution opposing the project without benefit of a thorough vetting by the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC).

The five-to-two vote followed seven hours of testimony, offered by more than 100 individuals, including both project supporters and opponents. The port very much appreciates the approximately 38 industry representatives who emphasized how important following process and maintaining a predictable business climate are to private-sector companies looking to locate in our community.

Port testimonies focused on the robust EFSEC review currently underway and asked the council to allow that process to complete its work – determining what needs to happen to ensure that the facility can operate safely in our community. Safe operations is the port’s number one priority, and this high bar related to safety is shared by EFSEC – and is why the port’s lease with Tesoro-Savage is contingent on the companies obtaining all the necessary permits.

According to Coleman, the city’s resolution ignores that crude oil trains are already traveling through the community and “asks us to overlook the realities of crude oil transport and pretend that by ‘just saying no’ we can make it all go away.”

He insisted that “a more productive approach would be for all of us to work collectively to ensure the safe transit of these types of commodities, putting appropriate regulations and robust government oversight in place to protect our communities and the environment.”

To better understand the perspectives of port leaders, read Commissioner Jerry Oliver’s and CEO Todd Coleman’s testimonies and Commissioner Brian Wolfe’s letter to the city council. For information on the port’s request to our federal delegation for decisive action on improving crude oil rail safety, read Coleman Applauds Washington’s Federal Delegation’s Commitment to Rail Safety, and Calls Others to Do the Same.