Oil trains are very dangerous and the Tesoro-Savage oil terminal at the Port of Vancouver would greatly increase trains passing through residential neighborhoods in Clark County and downtown Vancouver.
Private citizens, elected officials and candidates for public office have opposed oil trains and a new oil terminal. All now are waiting for the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council’s recommendation to Gov. Jay Inslee who has the final say, subject to judicial appeal.
I believe we can fix the root cause of the problem. The three commissioners of the Port of Vancouver are elected for six-year rotating terms. With a grassroots effort we could elect new commissioners who could set policy for less dangerous and more labor-intensive businesses than oil terminals. The next port commissioner election is in November for District 2, which includes Fruit Valley and other motivated neighborhoods near the port and the railroad.
The Port of Vancouver was enabled by state legislative action via The Port District Act of 1911. The Act provided local residents control of port facilities, as at that time in 1911, railroads were deemed greedy and needed to be reigned in.
