Hundreds Turned Away at Tacoma Methanol Scoping Hearing

Proposed methanol plant draws debate at Tacoma hearing

via The News Tribune BY DERRICK NUNNALLY

A contentious hearing Thursday night to guide official scrutiny of a proposed Tideflats methanol plant drew hundreds more people than a 400-seat meeting room in the Greater Tacoma Convention & Trade Center could hold, leaving city officials pondering Friday how to handle future hearings.
“We are going to fix this next time,” said Ian Munce, the city’s principal planner and manager of the methanol project. “We are going to the ballroom next time.”
The meeting room used for Thursday’s event, instead of the 1,200-capacity ballroom, resulted in a meeting that started an hour ahead of schedule, after all seats were filled and the room’s perimeter was lined by the project’s advocates and detractors jammed together into close proximity.

The hearing was the first public meeting since the Port of Tacoma agreed in 2014 on a 30-year lease of waterfront property to build the 125-acre methanol production facility, which would be the world’s largest.The project’s proposer, Northwest Innovation Works, draws financial support from China’s government and BP (the British petroleum company), and also plans to build two similar plants in Kalama and the Port of St. Helens in Clatskanie, Oregon.

Several cited troubling problematic consequences of Tacoma’s industrial past, including the much-mocked “Tacoma aroma” and the lead and arsenic that fell from the Asarco copper smelter smokestack into Tacoma’s soils for much of the 20th century.
“Yes, we need jobs,” said Bruce Hoeft, a retired teacher who lives in Tacoma, “but we need ones that will not threaten the health of the people who have those jobs and the people who live nearby. … The smelter also provided those jobs, and it poisoned the land and the water.”

Enormous Northwest refineries would feed China exclusively

David Ferris, E&E reporter

EnergyWire: Tuesday, November 17, 2015

SEATTLE -- China is seeking to tap the flood of cheap natural gas coming from the interior of North America by converting it to methanol at three huge refineries in Washington and Oregon.
The processing plants, collectively called Northwest Innovation Works, have received little attention despite their head-snapping impact:

• The refineries could increase demand for natural gas in the Pacific Northwest by 40 percent.

• They would more than triple the size of the fast-growing U.S. methanol industry.

• With an estimated $7 billion price tag, the refineries would be one of the largest investments ever by China in new U.S. manufacturing.

• The largest plant, planned for Tacoma, could use more water than all the residential customers of the city's public utility district combined.

Sign this petition! 

Say NO to the huge methanol refinery proposed for the heart of Tacoma

City of Tacoma has the links to Scoping and the comment portal. There will be a second hearing Tuesday, February 16, 2016, 6:30 PM, at Meeker Middle School, 4402 Nassau Avenue NE.

For more info see:

Citizens for a Healthy Bay 

Red Line Tacoma

Bill could shield oil train spill response plans from disclosure

Oil burns at the site of a March 5, 2015, train derailment near Galena, Ill.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/economy/article39495555.html#storylink=cpy

House bill could shield oil train spill response plans from disclosure

Six-year transportation bill includes section on oil trains
Obama administration supports public notifications of oil spills, etc.
Future transportation secretary could be empowered to protect data

By Curtis Tate     McClatchyDC  Oct 16, 2015

WASHINGTON-   A House of Representatives bill unveiled Friday could make it more difficult for the public to know how prepared railroads are for responding to oil spills from trains, their worst-case scenarios and how much oil is being transported by rail through communities.

The language appears in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s six-year transportation legislation, which primarily addresses federal programs that support state road, bridge and transit projects. But the legislation also includes a section on oil trains.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is working on a rule to require railroads shipping oil to develop comprehensive spill response plans along the lines of those required for pipelines and waterborne vessels. It would also require them to assess their worst-case scenarios for oil spills, including quantity and location.

The House bill would give the secretary of transportation the power to decide what information would not be disclosed to the public.

The secretary would have discretion to withhold anything proprietary or security sensitive, as well as “specific response resources and tactical resource deployment plans” and “the specific amount and location of worst-case discharges, including the process by which a railroad carrier determines the worst-case discharge.”

The House bill defines “worst-case discharge” as the largest foreseeable release of oil in an accident or incident, as determined by the rail carrier.

Four major oil train derailments have occurred in the U.S. since the beginning of the year, resulting in the release of more than 600,000 gallons, according to federal spill data.....

.... In May, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill that would require railroads operating in the state to plan for their worst-case spills.

In April, BNSF Railway told state emergency responders that the company currently considers 150,000 gallons of crude oil, enough to fill five rail tank cars, its worst-case scenario when planning for spills into waterways. A typical 100-car oil train carries about 3 million gallons.

Washington state requires marine ships that transport oil to plan for a spill of the entire cargo.....

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/economy/article39495555.html#storylink=cpy

more here

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/economy/article39495555.html#storylink=cpy

Secrecy of Crude by Rail Loses in Court- Again

Maryland judge orders release of oil train reports 

By Curtis Tate   McClatchyDC  Aug 17, 2015

A Maryland judge rejected two rail carriers’ arguments that oil train reports should be withheld from the public, ordering them released to McClatchy and other news organizations that sought them.

 

The ruling isn’t the first time railroads have lost their bid to keep the oil train reports secret, but it is the first court decision recognizing the public’s right to see them.

The U.S. Department of Transportation began requiring in May 2014 that railroads inform states of large shipments of crude oil after a series of derailments with spills, fires, explosions and evacuations. Since February, six more major oil train derailments have occurred in North America.
Nonetheless, some railroads have continued to press their case that the reports should be exempt from disclosure under state open records laws. Most states shared the documents anyway, and Pennsylvania and Texas did so after McClatchy appealed. Maryland is the only state the railroads took to court to block the release of the reports.

Norfolk Southern and CSX sued the Maryland Department of the Environment in July 2014 to stop the state agency from releasing the records to McClatchy and the Associated Press. They have until Sept. 4 to appeal the decision, issued Friday by Judge Lawrence Fletcher-Hill of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.

Both companies, which transport crude oil to East Coast refineries concentrated in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, said they would review the decision.....

.... In his 20-page opinion, Fletcher-Hill was not persuaded by arguments that releasing the oil train reports would harm the railroads’ security and business interests. He also dismissed the relevance of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s May final rule addressing the safety of oil trains. The companies had argued that the final rule supported their claims.

He also ordered the companies to pay any open court costs.

In a statement, Maryland Secretary of the Environment Ben Grumbles said the agency was pleased with the ruling and that it is “committed to transparency in government.” ....  more here

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/economy/article31310891.html#storylink=cpy

Draft Environmental Impact Statement to be released August 31

The release of the draft Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) for the Westway Expansion Project and the Imperium Terminal Services Expansion Project and the start of the public comment period will occur on Monday, Aug. 31, 2015

.

The two Draft EISs will be released on the Ecology website,www.ecy.wa.gov/GraysHarbor. Along with the draft documents and chapters, there will also be fact sheets summarizing key issue areas, the environmental review process, and the Westway and the Imperium expansion projects.

We are providing multiple ways to comment during the expanded 60-day comment period, starting August 31, 2015 and ending October 29, 2015.

Open houses and public hearings will be held on October 1 in Elma andOctober 8 in Aberdeen. Additional details will be released August 31 on the project website, www.ecy.wa.gov/GraysHarbor, as well as through this LISTSERV.

Public engagement is a vital part of the environmental review process, and we look forward to receiving your comments on the analysis and findings in the draft EISs.

Look for more details through this LISTSERV on Monday, August 31 or the legal notice published in the Montesano Vidette on Thursday, August 27.

Thank you.

Inslee admin meets secretly with Longview refinery lobbyists

What's going on here?

“Have not heard much about it [Riverside Energy refinery] other than what you have reported in the media,” Inslee told reporters when asked about it at a May 28 news conference.

Emails obtained through a public records request by OPB and EarthFix tell a different story when it comes to Inslee’s administration. They document how Inslee’s cabinet and staff have been in discussions with Riverside Energy CEO Lou Soumas for nearly a year.

The Clean Energy Governor And The Columbia River Oil Refinery

by Conrad Wilson and Tony Schick OPB | June 5, 2015 4:47 p.m. | Updated: June 5, 2015 9:06 p.m. | Longview, Washington

---

The Port of Longview, Washington, could become the site of the first oil refinery on the West Coast in 25 years. The project would handle 45,000 barrels per day, two-thirds of which would be petroleum-based products and the rest of which would be biofuels.  Conrad Wilson / OPB

A new oil refinery is the last thing you might expect Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s administration to be courting. After all, Inslee has developed a national reputation as a champion of curbing the use of fossil fuels.

 

And yet, Inslee’s administration has worked for months to facilitate such a project along the Columbia River.

A Texas-based energy company wants to site a combined crude oil and biofuel refinery in Longview, Washington. The company’s goal is to capitalize on low carbon fuel standards championed by West Coast political leaders, including Inslee.

The refinery is a project Inslee could have the final say in approving.

Inslee is a politician on a tightrope: He’s cultivating the reputation of a national leader on climate change policy. And he’s also the head of a government that is working with businessmen whose project calls for three trainloads of North Dakota crude oil to be hauled into his state each week by way of the Columbia River Gorge.

Riverside Energy’s plans for the 45,000 barrels-per-day refinery first surfaced publicly in April.

Since then, Inslee has said publicly that he knows next to nothing about the project.

A file photo of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee at his Capitol office. The governor is proposing a carbon-trading program and other steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Flickr/GovInslee

“Have not heard much about it other than what you have reported in the media,” Inslee told reporters when asked about it at a May 28 news conference.

Emails obtained through a public records request by OPB and EarthFix tell a different story when it comes to Inslee’s administration. They document how Inslee’s cabinet and staff have been in discussions with Riverside Energy CEO Lou Soumas for nearly a year.

Inslee’s advisers have scheduled meetings with Soumas, asked him to give presentations to staff in various state agencies and invited him to comment on potential clean fuels legislation. In an email to Soumas last summer, an Inslee staffer offered to take action to support the advanced fuels industry.

In February, Soumas wrote to the Port of Longview that the Governor’s office had asked for updates on the project and when it could be announced, according to an email obtained by Columbia Riverkeeper and shared with news organizations.

“They are anxious to tie us in with their just issued draft Clean Fuels Standard process and other activities important to the (state’s) energy and commerce plans,” Soumas wrote. “I’m meeting with several of Inslee’s direct reports on Wednesday in Olympia and they hope for a positive update on concrete progress on the project.”
     (continued below)

Pacific NW medical pros call oil-by-rail a bad Rx- and more

BNSF Crude Oil Train

Pacific NW medical pros call oil-by-rail a bad Rx

Wendy Culverwell      May 11, 2015   Portland Business Journal

More than 300 health care professionals have joined a coalition calling on Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to deny permits for new and expanded oil-by-rail facilities in both states.

Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility say the proposed projects would lead to a dramatic increase in the number of oil trains crisscrossing the region and by extension, aggravate asthma, worsen heart and lung issues and create dangerous situations for people living near the tracks.

Regna Merritt, campaign director in Oregon, called it a public health threat.

The threat from oil train derailments is one element. Others include the health impacts of increased diesel emissions from locomotives contributes on asthma, heart and lung disease.

“These issues hit on so many levels,” she said.

The coalition says that if all the proposed new or expanded oil terminals are built, oil train traffic will rise to more than 130 trains per week, from 19 currently.

Generally, the Northwest is being hit by a wave of fossil fuel infrastructure projects meant to move coal, oil and gas from Midwestern and Canadian oil fields to the coast....

... The group has developed a peer-reviewed position statement it plans to submit as part of the Environmental Impact Statement prepared for each of the proposed projects....    more here

Vandalism on inactive rail line used to justify oil train secrecy

By Curtis Tate     McClatchy Washington Bureau     May 10, 2015

Part of the federal government’s justification for keeping details about oil trains secret is literally hiding in the weeds on the South Dakota prairie....

...In its rule, the department cited an investigation ....into an act of vandalism reported last December in Vivian, S.D.

According to investigators, a two-foot section of rail on the state-owned Dakota Southern Railway was blown out with tannerite, an explosive used in target practice that can be purchased at sporting goods stores.

In its rule, the department notes that “widespread access to security sensitive information could be used for criminal purposes when it comes to crude oil by rail transportation.”

But not only is the track through Vivian not used for oil trains, it hasn’t been used by any train for years.....    more here

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2015/05/10/5792130/vandalism-on-inactive-rail-line.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/2015/05/10/5792130/vandalism-on-inactive-rail-line.html#storylink=cpy

‘Bomb train’ incidents predictable, Firefighters speak out

Latest ‘bomb train’ incident predictable

Kathleen Sloan | The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa    May 11, 2015   Bakken.com

BNSF Railway carried the Hess Corp.-owned rail car, which carried highly volatile Bakken crude oil from North Dakota and appears to have followed the law.

President Barack Obama weighed and rejected using executive authority to curb the transport of this explosive crude oil, rich in butane and propane, because he decided North Dakota state law should be the controlling authority. But the law North Dakota passed in December and went into effect just last month, only requires less than 13.7 pounds-per-square-inch vapor pressure inside the tanker, despite explosions at lower pressures.

That’s almost 40 percent more than the average vapor pressure among the 63 tanker cars that exploded July 6, 2013, at Lac-Megantic, Quebec. That disaster killed 47 people, some of whom could not be found because they were vaporized, and is driving recent federal and state rail car regulations.

According to an Albany, N.Y., Times Union investigation, the average vapor pressure among 72 tanker cars in the Lac-Megantic train was 10 psi.....

....Experts in various news articles and public comment submitted during the federal rule-making stated the way to make transport safe is to refine the crude before shipping. That would involve building refineries near the extraction point, which experts pointed out would be expensive.

In a Sept. 26, 2014, story, Railway Age contributing editor David Thomas applauded North Dakota for “using state jurisdiction over natural resources to fill the vacuum created by the federal government’s abdication of its constitutional responsibility for rail safety and hazardous materials.”
But Thomas admitted the state law on crude treatment would reduce the danger only slightly.

“Simply put, North Dakotan crude will have to be lightly pressure-cooked to boil off a fraction of the volatile ‘light ends’ before shipment,” Thomas said. “This conditioning lowers the ignition temperature of crude oil — but not by much. It leaves in solution most of the culprit gases, including butane and propane. Even the industry itself says conditioning would not make Bakken crude meaningfully safer for transportation, though it would make the state’s crude more consistent from one well to another.”

“The only solution for safety is stabilization, which evaporates and re-liquifies nearly all of the petroleum gases for separate delivery to refiners,” Thomas said.

He points out owners and shippers in the Eagle Fork formation in Texas, voluntarily stabilize their crude before shipping. It’s more volatile than Bakken crude.....    more here

Firefighters' Union Says New Oil-By-Rail Rules Fall Short

Kate Sheppard   HuffPost    05/05/15

WASHINGTON -- The largest union representing firefighters in North America said Tuesday that a new Department of Transportation rule for transporting oil by rail does not go far enough to enable firefighters to respond effectively in the case of an accident.

Released on Friday, the new rule from the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration covers trains carrying oil and other highly flammable liquids. It includes new standards for how tank cars used to transport those liquids must be constructed, and it changes requirements for routing and speed. The DOT's description of the new rule also notes that it requires railroads to provide state, local and tribal governments with "a railroad point of contact for information related to the routing of hazardous materials through their jurisdictions."

It's that information-sharing part of the rule that has the union concerned. Its general president, Harold Schaitberger, wrote in an email that because time is so critical when responding to accidents, emergency personnel need information about what a train is carrying up front, instead of just having a point of contact to find out later.

“Fire fighters depend on all available information to launch an effective response to emergencies like oil explosions. They need to know what trains are carrying and when," Schaitberger said. "These new rules fall short of requiring rail operators to provide the information fire departments need to respond effectively when the call arrives." .....

.....The DOT's rule indicated that such disclosure might have "negative security and business implications." But Schaitberger said the lack of transparency could be deadly.

“Trains carrying combustible crude oil continue to move regularly through populated communities and pose a serious and immediate safety threat," said Schaitberger.....  more here

State gets oil train reports via back door

While feds grant railways secrecy, new law requires disclosure by refineries 

By Lauren Dake,   The Columbian   May 9, 2015

Recently released oil train safety regulations could undermine transparency efforts at the national level, but Washington state officials are hoping a new state law will ensure access to information about volatile Bakken crude oil moving through the region.......  more here

 

DOT Caves to Railroad Pressure: Oil Shipments Again Secret

Crude Oil Rail Shipments Sabotage Freedom of Information Act

Forbes   05/05/15    James Conca

New regulations from the U.S. Department of Transportation declare that details about crude oil rail shipments are exempt from public disclosure (Tri-City Herald).

This ends DOT’s existing regulations that required railroads to share with state officials, and the public, information about shipping large volumes of dangerous crude oil by rail. These disclosure requirements were put in place last year after a Bakken crude oil train-wreck in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Now, railroads will only have to share this information with emergency responders who will be mum. And the information will be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act as well as public records and state disclosure laws (SSI)....

...the new regulations do cover critical oil train operations in terms of “speed restrictions, 

braking systems, and routing, and adopts safety improvements in tank car design standards 

and a sampling and classification program for unrefined petroleum-based products.” 

All good things long needed to address the growing dangers in rail transport of crude.

But after the Lynchburg derailment and inferno, the feds required railroads to notify emergency response agencies if shipments over a million gallons crude oil were going through their states. Railroads complied, but asked states to keep that information confidential.

Most states refused (McClatchy).

Since then, the industry argued that details about the crude oil rail shipments were sensitive from a security and customer protection standpoint and should not be available to the public....

....At first, the Federal Railroad Administration disagreed with the industry (Federal Register), saying that information about the shipments was not sensitive from any standpoint.

But they seemed to have quietly caved to industry pressure.....

 

Editorial: New rules on oil trains may block transparency 

Spokesman-Review  May 5, 2015

Days after the Washington Legislature passed an oil train safety bill, the federal government released regulations that could put the public back in the dark....

... The new state law requires railroads to provide to first responders the type and volume of oil shipped. That information is supposed to be compiled on a quarterly basis and made available to the public. However, the federal rules indicate the DOT has backed away from the notification requirements it issued as part of an emergency order last spring....

.....Railroads tried to get states to sign confidentiality agreements to keep the information under wraps. Some states complied, but most didn’t. As of last October, the Federal Railroad Administration said it didn’t agree with railroads that making the information public posed a national security threat.


But DOT’s new rules show that the agency eventually capitulated. Railroads still need to inform first responders, but the information may not be considered a public record. It isn’t clear how this will play out in the states. As of Monday, the governor’s office couldn’t be sure.....   more here