Much as I admire Belva Baz for her 94 years, I take issue with her on the benefits of an oil terminal (“Work to benefit the majority,” June 1, Our Readers’ Views). What’s proposed is the importation by rail, along the shore of the Columbia River, some 360,000 barrels per day of volatile and highly flammable crude oil.
That’s four to five long oil trains, every day, coming into Vancouver, with an equal number of trains, empty except for residual flammable gasses, going the other way. The oil will then be trans-shipped, or kept here to be processed in a new oil refinery. What is the benefit of this proposal? Perhaps 100 permanent jobs, and a bunch more when there’s an oil spill. This benefit is minimal compared to the costs, economic and societal, of the inevitable accidents and spills. The city of Vancouver, Clark County, the state Department of Natural Resources, and others have expressed strong opposition to the proposal.
We live in an extremely desirable area. The Columbia River and the Cascade Mountains are famous for their natural beauty, housing is affordable, summers are wonderful, our tax structure is one of the best in the country, and we’re on the edge of a great city. One accident involving one oil train could turn this lovely area into another environmental nightmare. We shouldn’t take the risk.
