The Tesoro-Savage plan to build an oil terminal at Vancouver is dangerous. That is like inviting a disaster waiting to happen. The politicians of this town are playing with fire with an issue that concerns the safety and health of everyone.
To put people’s lives and property at risk to an exploding oil train and/or an oil spill in the Columbia River is totally reckless and irresponsible. We only have to look at the recent event that involved an oil train explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, that killed 47 people. A major oil spill on the Columbia River would be an environmental catastrophe and could wipe out wildlife and marine life. An oil train or tanker accident could destroy the salmon fishery in the Columbia. The river would never recover from such a tragedy.
Big Oil does not care what the environmental impact of their operations could mean to this area. They make decisions based on their own bottom line, not on safety and environmental issues that would concern our region. Tesoro-Savage has the option to ship their crude by another route. Moving oil through the Columbia River Gorge is totally unacceptable.
The Vancouver City Council and Gov. Jay Inslee should recommend rejecting the proposal. We don’t want a dirty crude oil terminal here in Vancouver. Tell Tesoro-Savage to take their oil somewhere else.
