Portland City Council Votes Unanimously to Re-Adopt Restrictions on Large New Fossil Fuel Terminals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Portland City Council Votes Unanimously to Re-Adopt Restrictions on Large New Fossil Fuel Terminals

December 18, 2019 (Portland, OR)—Today Portland City Council voted unanimously to re-adopt an ordinance that sharply restricts large new oil train terminals and other fossil fuel projects in the City of Portland. Portland first approved the Fossil Fuel Zoning Code Ordinance in late 2016, and it prohibits the establishment of new major oil storage facilities in Portland while also limiting expansion at existing facilities.

“Thousands of Portlanders have weighed in to support this policy, and thousands more have taken to the streets in recent months to demonstrate the need for action as bold as the scale of the climate crisis itself,” said Dineen O’Rourke, Campaign Director for 350PDX. “Building new fossil fuel infrastructure should be seen as morally inconceivable now, and our City’s decision thankfully reflects this and sets a precedent for cities across the country.”

"It is a basic medical principle to do no harm, and bulk fossil fuel storage poses an enormous threat to our health and safety," said Dr. Kelly O'Hanley with Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility. "It is high time to pass these zoning changes and ban the expansion of extremely harmful fossil fuel infrastructure." 

“In recent years, the City of Portland has repeatedly made findings that large fossil fuel facilities are inherently dangerous,” said Nicholas Caleb, Staff Attorney for the Center for Sustainable Economy. “Their risks for leaks, spills, explosions are exacerbated by expected seismic events in the region like the Cascadia subduction event.”  

“The reinstatement of this ordinance is an important step by the City in implementing the grassroots led vision to protect our community and environment from additional dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure,” said Micah Meskel, Activist Program Manager, Portland Audubon. “And it must be followed by additional, more ambitious steps if we are to further mitigate the extensive risk of the existing fossil fuel infrastructure located along our Willamette River.”   

“Portland’s action is important for protecting the Gorge National Scenic Area from increased oil train risks,” said Ryan Rittenhouse, Conservation Organizer for Friends of the Columbia Gorge. “Every oil train headed to Portland passes through small communities in the Gorge: this action is as important today as it was in 2016, in the wake of the Mosier oil train derailment.”

“The oil industry has demonstrated its willingness to endanger our communities and our rivers with reckless oil train shipments,” said Dan Serres, Conservation Director for Columbia Riverkeeper and a member of the Stand Up to Oil Coalition. “An oil train derailed and burned in Canada just last week. Portland’s stand against dangerous oil train terminals makes more sense than ever: there is already an unacceptable level of risk from petroleum being stored unsafely on unstable soils and shipped through our communities in vulnerable rail cars.”

MEDIA ADVISORY - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

City Of Portland Poised to Re-Adopt Landmark Fossil Fuel Terminal Restrictions 

Public meeting and likely vote on Fossil Fuel Terminal Zoning Amendments Ordinance

• What: On Wednesday, December 18, 2019, at 3:00PM PST, Portland will hold a hearing on a city ordinance that renews Portland’s commitment to strong climate action, lower carbon emissions, effective seismic resilience, a safer Columbia River Gorge, and a safer environment for those in and around Portland.
   
• Where: Portland City Hall, 1221 SW 4th Ave, Portland, OR 97204
   
• When: Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019, 3:00 PM
   
• Why: After nearly three years of legal process, the City of Portland is poised to re-adopt the Fossil Fuel Terminal Zoning Code Amendments. The ordinance prohibits the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure that has the capability to transload fossil fuels or is larger than two million gallons in capacity, and the ordinance forbids existing bulk fossil fuel terminals from expanding in size, preventing any further potential damage to the local environment. 
  
  The ordinance has survived challenges from the oil industry already. In 2017, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that Portland did not violate the Dormant Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which opened the door for local governments to continue to take meaningful action to protect residents from dangerous fossil fuel infrastructure and to combat climate change.

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Background information

Portland City Council Agenda: The City Council is expected to vote to approve Portland’s landmark fossil fuel zoning code ordinance at this time.

“In recent years, the City of Portland has repeatedly made findings that large fossil fuel facilities are inherently dangerous — in their risks for leaks, spills, explosions that are exacerbated by expected seismic events in the region like the Cascadia subduction event—and in their impacts on the climate,” said Nicholas Caleb, Staff Attorney for the Center for Sustainable Economy. “This has manifested in resolutions opposing new fossil fuel infrastructure and oil trains, as well as zoning code amendments prohibiting new large scale fossil fuel storage and transfer infrastructure. These efforts have been upheld by Oregon courts as legitimate exercises of local regulatory authority.”

“In the wake of the Mosier oil train crash in 2016 and a fiery crude oil train derailment in Canada just last week, Portland’s City Council’s consideration of the Fossil Fuel Terminal Zoning Amendments remains very timely,” said Dan Serres, Conservation Director, Columbia Riverkeeper. “We are ready to have this important ordinance back in place.” 

"It is a basic medical principle to do no harm, and bulk fossil fuel storage poses an enormous threat to our health and safety," said Dr. Kelly O'Hanley with Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility. "It is high time to pass these zoning changes and ban the expansion of extremely harmful fossil fuel infrastructure."