I love living in a wonderful neighborhood called Carter Park. It is one of Vancouver’s historic neighborhoods with craftsman bungalows on tree-lined streets. It’s a place where neighbors exchange plants from their gardens in the spring, put boxes of free tomatoes out in the summer, watched the lunar eclipse together on a cool, fall evening and shovel each others’ walks in the winter.
Living in Carter Park means I am within minutes from a lovely dinner at a local restaurant, a concert at Esther Short Park or seeing osprey nests along the Columbia River. If the Tesoro-Savage oil terminal goes through, living in Carter Park will also mean I am within minutes of potential devastating oils spills, fires and explosions.
The draft environmental impact statement regarding the proposed oil terminal predicts there could be one oil train derailment every two years in Washington. It also stated the newer, safer rail cars could puncture and explode at speeds as low as 12 mph. These are simply risks I do not want to face.
Gov. Jay Inslee said “We have the most beautiful state in the world.” My hope is that by rejecting the nation’s largest oil terminal, we can keep it that way.
Findings in the DEIS confirm significant public safety risks and environmental threats. These findings should be used to reject Tesoro-Savage’s massive proposed oil shipping terminal.
