Sometime in 2017, Gov. Jay Inslee will make the final decision whether to allow Vancouver Energy to build an oil terminal near Vancouver, after EFSEC, the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council, makes its recommendation.
One of the factors he will consider is the safety of the rail cars and tracks. On Dec. 28, a coal car derailed near Vancouver; luckily it did not spill into the Columbia River. Last June, an oil train derailed near Mosier, Ore., narrowly missing an elementary school when the cars exploded in flames. With no wind to spread the inferno, and lots of luck, no one was hurt or killed.
Luck can only last so long. If a Mosier-type of accident occurred in Vancouver, or a town in the Gorge, the resulting inferno could resemble the accident in Lac-M?gantic, Quebec, on July 6, 2013, in which 47 people died. With just the increased train traffic, up to 16 more trains a day, emergency vehicles would be blocked at rail crossings, such as in Washougal, which has only one elevated railroad crossing and several at grade. Lives could be lost.
Oil profits are not worth lives.
