Kudos to the four city of Vancouver council members who oppose the proposed Tesoro-Savage oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver.
I am particularly concerned about the health and environmental effects of the proposed facility because I’ve been a public health nurse for over 35 years. It’s the largest oil terminal proposed in the Northwest and the scale of oil transport by rail is unprecedented: 380,000 barrels per day by rail is 42 percent of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline.
I am concerned about the public health impacts of air pollution that would result from transfer of oil from trains to storage tanks at the port and also during transfer from storage tanks to ships. The resulting air pollution will have harmful effects on all residents.
I am concerned about the public health impacts of accidental oil spills along the entire train route throughout Washington state. I believe a large train-related spill could devastate the Columbia River. What are the emergency response capabilities in each community to handle oil spills and fires?
