Once again our Vancouver City Council members have demonstrated their willingness to protect our safety and well-being by continuing the moratorium on establishing or expanding crude oil-handling facilities for another six months. The moratorium does not formally effect either the Tesoro-Savage oil transfer terminal proposal (which would bring 360,000 barrels of crude oil daily), or the NuStar proposal (that would mean 22,000 barrels a day). However, it does give our city staff more time to research and craft a viable ordinance that will regulate crude oil, focusing particularly on the public safety issues involved.
In spite of the reflexive public relations assurances offered by companies pushing crude oil proposals, the oil industry’s focus will always be on profits that inevitably come at the expense of all of us living here in the city (and the region). These companies focus on short-term financial gain and turn a blind eye to the quality of life, safety, health and environmental impacts of the volatile oil being pushed on us against our will.
I appreciate the due diligence and foresight of our Vancouver City Council members in pushing back against the risks brought by oil industry proposals that threaten us all.
