The national group Climate Parents said Friday that local members will attend a Port of Vancouver commission meeting tonight to present commissioners a petition with 14,000 signatures demanding they reject the oil-by-train proposal by Tesoro Corp. and Savage Companies.
Tesoro and Savage say their proposal, which would bring oil by train from North Dakota’s Bakken shale formation, will generate an estimated 250 temporary construction jobs and up to 120 full-time positions, most of them hired locally. The oil facility would be designed to handle as much as 380,000 barrels of crude per day. The oil would arrive by train, be stored and later transferred to ships and barges for shipment to U.S. refineries.
Columbia Riverkeeper said a vigil will be held before today’s commission meeting. The vigil will honor the victims of the fiery oil train derailment in Lac-Megantic, Quebec. The July 6 calamity vaporized a large swath of the downtown, killed 50 people, forced the evacuation of 2,000 and prompted investigations.
Commissioners will discuss the elements of a possible lease with Tesoro and Savage during a workshop to be held from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at 3103 N.W. Lower River Road. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Commissioners are slated to act on a proposed lease during their regular public meeting beginning at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the same location.
In addition to requiring a lease deal from port commissioners, the companies’ proposal would have to clear an examination by the state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, which would make a recommendation to Gov. Jay Inslee, who has the final say.
