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Home » Climate + Energy » Here Are All the Northwest Cities, Governments, and Organizations That Oppose Oil Trains

Here Are All the Northwest Cities, Governments, and Organizations That Oppose Oil Trains

SwatchJunkies

February 10, 2016

Editor’s note: This article is cross-posted with permission from Oil Check Northwest.

Across the Pacific Northwest, residents are talking about the growing risks from oil train traffic in their communities. The numerous derailments and fiery disasters since oil-by-rail became the go-to form of transportation for Bakken shale oil has many speaking out about concerns for public safety and health.

There are new projects currently seeking permits in Vancouver, Grays Harbor, and Longview, Washington; refineries increasing capacity in Anacortes, Washington; and a facility already in operation in Port Westward, Oregon. The trains run the length of Washington State, cutting across the Columbia River and through some of the region’s largest population centers.

This regional conversation came to a head last week with the first public hearings for the proposed Tesoro Savage oil-by-rail facility. With capacity to bring in 360,000 barrels per day, it would be the largest facility in North America. Between two hearings in Vancouver and Spokane, nearly 2,000 people showed up, the overwhelming majority in opposition. What’s more, over 275,000 people sent in public comments on the project, believed to be a record for Washington State.

Final delivery of public comment comes on the heels of Multnomah County formally opposing oil trains and officials with the Washington State Attorney’s office expressing deep concerns that the initial environmental impact statement downplayed risks to public safety and health.

With this swirl of public statements and voices of concern on oil trains, it can be difficult to get perspective on who has said what and what their statements mean. To that end we’ve created a map organizing all the formal statements against oil trains and highlighting who has spoken up and how strong their opposition was.

[button link='{“url”:”http://www.sightline.org/2015/08/13/the-thin-green-line-is-stopping-coal-and-oil-in-their-tracks/”,”title”:”More on how Northwest communities are stopping coal and oil in their tracks.”}’ color=”green”]

We’ve broken them up into four categories (increasing from light to dark coloring):

  • determination of safety/careful analysis (lightest blue)
  • expression of concern or reconsideration
  • formal written opposition
  • request for moratorium or to decline permit (darkest blue)
Screenshot_PNW Oil Trains Resistance Map_Oil Check Northwest
Pacific Northwest Oil Trains Resistance Map by Oil Check Northwest (Used with permission.)

There are a total of 3 counties, 11 major organizations, 29 cities, and the Quinault Nation that have officially voiced concern or outright opposition to oil trains in their communities. With groups ranging from the Washington State Council of Firefighters to the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, and cities stretching from Spokane and Aberdeen to Bellingham and Hood River (basically anywhere the trains would run), it’s clear how diverse and widespread public opposition is in both Oregon and Washington.

You can check out the full interactive and updated map here, as well as in table format below. As new cities and groups consider the risks, we will continue to add to that live map. You may also view the groups opposed in the table below.

Nick Abraham is the editor of Oil Check Northwest, a watchdog group focused on oil and coal’s influence in the region. He can be reached at nick@oilchecknw.com and at @oilchecknw.

 

City, County, Nation, or Organization

State

Position

Statement

Aberdeen WA formal written opposition to oil trains Link
Anacortes WA determination of safety/careful analysis Link
Auburn WA determination of safety/careful analysis Link
Bainbridge Island WA request for moratorium or to decline permit Link
Bellingham WA determination of safety/careful analysis Link
Bingen WA expression of concern or reconsideration Link
Camas WA expression of concern or reconsideration Link
Chehalis WA determination of safety/careful analysis Link
Clark County Democratic Central Committee WA formal written opposition to oil trains Link
Columbia River Gorge Commission WA request for moratorium or to decline permit Link
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission OR formal written opposition to oil trains Link
Edmonds WA request for moratorium or to decline permit Link
Elma WA expression of concern or reconsideration Link
Grays Harbor County Democrats WA formal written opposition to oil trains Link
Hood River OR determination of safety/careful analysis Link
Hoquiam WA formal written opposition to oil trains Link
ILWU Local 4 WA formal written opposition to oil trains Link
Kent WA determination of safety/careful analysis Link
King County WA expression of concern or reconsideration Link
Montesano WA expression of concern or reconsideration Link
Mosier OR determination of safety/careful analysis Link
Mount Vernon WA determination of safety/careful analysis Link
Mukilteo WA determination of safety/careful analysis Link
Multnomah OR formal written opposition to oil trains Link
Ocean Shores WA formal written opposition to oil trains Link
Olympia WA request for moratorium or to decline permit Link
Port of Olympia WA expression of concern or reconsideration Link
Portland OR formal written opposition to oil trains Link
Quinault WA formal written opposition to oil trains Link
Rainier OR expression of concern or reconsideration Link
Scappoose OR determination of safety/careful analysis Link
Seattle WA request for moratorium or to decline permit Link
Skamania County Fire District 4 WA request for moratorium or to decline permit Link
Spokane WA determination of safety/careful analysis Link
Stevenson WA formal written opposition to oil trains Link
The Columbia Waterfront LLC WA formal written opposition to oil trains Link
The Dalles OR determination of safety/careful analysis Link
The Washington State Council of Firefighters WA expression of concern or reconsideration Link
The Washougal School District WA request for moratorium or to decline permit Link
Vancouver WA request for moratorium or to decline permit Link
Vancouver 101 Business Against Oil WA formal written opposition to oil trains Link
Washougal WA expression of concern or reconsideration Link
Westport WA formal written opposition to oil trains Link
Whatcom County WA determination of safety/careful analysis Link

[button link='{“url”:”http://www.sightline.org/2016/01/22/listen-in-oil-trains-in-the-northwest-explained/”,”title”:”Up next: oil trains in the Northwest, explained.”}’]

Talk to the Author

SwatchJunkies

Talk to the Author

Nick Abraham

Nick Abraham, Sightline fellow, was born in the Midwest but is an adopted son of the Pacific Northwest.

About Sightline

Sightline Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank providing leading original analysis of democracy, forests, energy, and housing policy in the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, British Columbia, and beyond.

6 thoughts on “Here Are All the Northwest Cities, Governments, and Organizations That Oppose Oil Trains”

  1. Your article is great. Thank you for your research and reporting. But I was shocked when I looked at the interactive map of resistance points and saw that everything just ends at the Canadian border. I know there is resistance among citizens to the north. Can you talk about international cooperation in this struggle to stop the Oil/Coal trains and put Canada’s efforts on this interactive map? Thanks. Julia Moore

    • Hi Julia,

      Thanks for reading and the kind words! I am a fellow for Sightline but I also write for Oil Check Northwest which is where this map is from. Oil Check only works on issues in WA and OR so I haven’t compiled a list of Canadian oil train opposition (although I know its been just as fierce in many areas).

      Canadian oil and coal opposition has been a frequent subject for Sightline and definitely something that will be in future posts. For this one, since its from Oil Check the map will just focused on the two American states.

      Cheers,

      Nick

  2. I do not see any mention of the written opposition statement by the Coastal Coalition of Fisheries a fifteen member association of commercial fishing groups, charterboat associations,oyster growers and associate seafood processing representatives.

  3. When are you people going to realize that oil is essential for your lives? It makes, or transports EVERYTHING you buy and use including your vehicle. For you to enjoy even the bare minimum of basics of life you have to have oil transported. Frankly I wish all of industry would turn their back on you and not furnish the items made and transported by oil including your FOOD. In a day or two you would be begging for it to return.

    This “not in my backyard” stuff is getting very tiresome.

    • Hi Tom,

      All of us realize that oil is an ever-present part of daily modern life, but a just transition away from a pollution based economy is what we are working towards. This isn’t going to happen tomorrow but building more oil and coal infrastructure today locks those investments in for decades. Making personal choices as consumers is part of the solution but customers can rarely effect how safely and reliably companies transport their products, that comes from political action.

      Everyone is up against an industry that spends billions in our political system to hold onto the status quo. There’s a big difference between being locked into a destructive system and trying to change it and actively perpetrating and preventing change.

      For an excellent read and well thought out explanation I hope you’ll read KC Golden’s blog on the same subject: http://climatesolutions.org/article/1432250679-we-have-met-wrong-enemy

      Cheers,

      Nick

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