I’m a long-time resident and would like to address the proposed oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver. Can any of you remember when we had hundreds of evening grosbeaks, cedar waxwings, goldfinches and many white-winged doves, just to name a few? Now we have English sparrows, starlings, California jays, and robins, just to name most that I see. I can’t say that the pollution is the main cause of the decline of the birds, but it doesn’t help. Can anyone remember coming down the Columbia River when you didn’t see a brown cloud of smog or pollution hanging over Vancouver? Can anyone remember when you could see over 5 feet down in the water? Now it’s maybe 18 inches, on a good day.
In the Nov. 15 story “Uneasy neighbors,” Eric LaBrant, president of the Fruit Valley Neighborhood Association, estimates that toxic emissions from the oil facility will average 195,222 pounds per year, of which eight are known to cause problems with breathing and possibly cancer. Tesoro’s air quality expert Chris Drechsel assures us that “the project’s air-quality impacts are ‘significantly below’ acceptable levels.” Acceptable to whom?
I hope others will voice their concerns.
Al Hensley
VANCOUVER
