From what I read there isn’t much anyone can do to make oil trains safe. New cars, tracks, processes, regulation — all fall short. Accidents happen, and in this case the results are irreversible.
Gov. Jay Inslee has authority to stop the oil terminal in Vancouver. The Department of Energy can stop the three proposed oil terminals in Grays Harbor. Without those terminals, fewer (I wish it were zero) trains will come.
I’ve been to city council and port meetings. I’ve discussed it with friends and asked my neighborhood association to invite a rebuttal perspective to Tesoro-Savage’s presentation. I’ve written letters to the editor and have stood on the street holding signs against this terminal. The only real way to protect our people and resources of Washington is to deny permits for projects that increase coal- and oil-train traffic in our state.
We’ve got trees, rivers, hills, proximity to the mountains, snow, and the ocean and all the outdoor sports you could ever want — and a whole county of creative, energetic people. We don’t need coal or oil to create jobs. Help us be the city we envision, not an oil company’s tool. Write to Inslee at https://fortress.wa.gov/es/governor/.
