Twelve or 13 oil trains destined for points north rumble through Vancouver weekly. If the fossil fuel industry is permitted to build all its proposed Washington terminals, 72-80 oil trains will pass through weekly — a six-fold increase in pollution, congestion, risk of fire, explosion, environmental destruction.
One terminal is proposed for Vancouver, three in Grays Harbor, two in Tacoma, two at Anacortes, and two in Ferndale near the Canadian border. Trains bound for these 10 terminals will pass through the Columbia River Gorge, then Vancouver, then head north.
Using the BNSF standard of a 99.97 percent safety record, the Hood River fire chief calculated that we can expect 1.2 derailments annually.
It takes 2,000 gallons of class B foam to suppress one oil car fire.
Throughout Portland-Vancouver, a mere 850 gallons is available, although oil trains are coming through daily.
Washington is under assault from the planet’s richest, dirtiest subsidized industry. However, there is a hopeful solution. If we don’t build the terminals, the trains won’t come.
