I am deeply concerned about the safety risks of the proposed oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver. Why do we want to become one of the largest transporters of toxic, explosive crude oil? During the last five years, approximately 110 trains have been reported towing oil tank cars along the Washington side of Columbia River. The Port of Vancouver’s lease with Tesoro-Savage will ship up to 380,000 barrels of fracked crude oil each day through the Columbia River Gorge to our port. Crude oil extracted by fracking uses toxic chemicals creating highly volatile oil (flammable at 73 degrees).
Once this explosive oil is transported to our port, it will be unloaded from train cars, stored and loaded to marine vessels for delivery. What will happen if there is an oil explosion involving the largest pipeline-on-rails or an oil tanker spill along our coastal waters? This is the same type of crude oil that killed 47 people in the oil train explosion in Quebec on July 6. There have been several oil train accidents reported since then. Our rail infrastructure is too strained to safely transport this explosive, toxic oil.
Please urge Gov. Jay Inslee to reject the oil terminal proposal.
Sharon Rickman
Vancouver
