Hooray for the May 19 editorial, “Stopping the oil terminal,” urging the Vancouver City Council to adopt a resolution (hopefully 7-0) against the proposed oil terminal and the follow-up coverage. Port of Vancouver Commissioner Brian Wolfe labeled the council work a “stab in the back.” But it was the port commissioners who stabbed us in the back. They signed a contract that cannot be made wholly public because it contains “sensitive material.” They didn’t survey assured public and private outrage to the lease before they affixed their signatures. They put bistate residents and ecologies at great risk for a handful of jobs and a pittance in lease monies.
Having grown up near the California oil industry, you can be sure that the stench is pervasive and perpetual. Recently, fully 300 yards from an oil train heading into town, I could smell an oil spill or leak as it passed. There is no question about the odor being anything but crude. Even this is unacceptable.
A major oil-related catastrophe is not a matter of if, but when, regardless of any super-safety measures and updated equipment. Humans invariably find a way.
Please continue support of the city council to ban the oil terminal and restrict dangerous train traffic through our beloved area.
