I’m asking the city of Vancouver to determine “significance” for the NuStar Energy oil storage terminal, and require the SEPA and EIS process. The change of the NuStar operation to crude oil is significant and deserves additional determination. This facility is closer to downtown and Hough Elementary School than the proposed Tesoro-Savage project. There are many legal reasons to require additional determination; two in particular have caught my attention:
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The facility is being designed to handle six times the throughput than as specified in NuStar’s submittals to Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council and Southwest Clean Air Agency.
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Allowed emissions will be different. Benzene would increase by 72 pounds per year, with the emission limit set at 82.6 pounds. And a project change for pollutant SO2 is 0.17 tons per year, with the emission limit set at 0.24 tons per year (Southwest Clean Air Agency air discharge permit).
As a community, we have been working hard to “revitalize” downtown Vancouver. We have made great strides toward this and we now stand on the cusp of waterfront revitalization. Will people want to move into our area with increased benzene and SO2 emissions? Non-stop rail traffic? The threat of oil spills and combustion?
