Category Archives: San Luis Obispo County

SAN LUIS OBISPO: Hundreds condemn Phillips 66 oil-by-rail proposal in first day of two-day hearing

Repost from The Tribune, San Luis Obispo CA
[Editor:  See also Pacific Coast Business Times, “Phillips 66 proposes fewer trains” and KSBY-TV, “Hearing begins.”  – RS]

SAN LUIS OBISPO: Hundreds condemn Phillips 66 oil-by-rail proposal in first day of two-day hearing

HIGHLIGHTS
• Planning Commission begins its two-day hearing on the proposed rail line for the Nipomo Mesa refinery
• Phillips 66 officials and county planning staff disagree on environmental impacts
• Hundreds of project opponents from across California arrive in SLO to protest the proposal

About 600 people gathered outside a San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission hearing to protest Phillips 66 Co.’s proposal to bring oil by rail to its Nipomo Mesa refinery.BY Cynthia Lambert, February 4, 2016 10:01 AM

In what was the largest turnout for a public hearing in years, hundreds of local residents and others from around California converged on San Luis Obispo Thursday to urge the county Planning Commission to reject Phillips 66 Co.’s request to receive crude oil by rail.

The hearing came about 18 months after the company submitted its project to the county for review, kicking off a firestorm and deluge of letters from around the state as residents and environmental organizations rallied opposition in communities near the Union Pacific railways.

On Thursday, the days of reckoning had finally arrived.

For several hours, planning commissioners heard appeals from 83 people — a combination of residents from San Luis Obispo County, and northern and southern California, as well as elected officials — all urging they reject a proposal to build a 1.3-mile spur with five parallel tracks from the main rail line to the Nipomo Mesa refinery, an unloading facility at the refinery and on-site pipelines.

“This affects everyone in the county in a major and adverse way,” said James Hencier of Nipomo.

He and other opponents cited numerous public safety and health impacts, air pollution and water quality problems, and the possibility — many said certainty — of a potentially disastrous oil train derailment or spill should the project be allowed to proceed.

“If this project goes forward, we can never go back and change it,” Nipomo resident Jennifer Williams said. “The damage will be done and it will be just a matter of time before an accident happens.”

About 390 people had grabbed speaker comment slips as of Thursday afternoon, including those who spoke that day. Public comment will continue Friday and possibly to a future date, depending on how many of the speakers turn out. None of the 83 public speakers on Thursday spoke in favor of the Phillips 66 proposal.

On Thursday morning in a full meeting room, the commission first heard a report from county planning staff explaining its recommendation for denial of the project, which as proposed would allow five trains a week, for a maximum of 250 trains per year to deliver crude oil to the Nipomo Mesa refinery.

Each train would have three locomotives, two buffer cars and 80 railcars carrying a total of about 2.2 million gallons of crude oil, according to county planners.

But representatives from Phillips 66 urged the commissioners to approve an alternate plan to allow three trains a week instead of five.

“The three-train-per-week project is now our proposed project,” said Jocelyn Thompson of Alston & Bird LLP.

It “eliminates all of the Class 1 impacts with respect to onsite activities,” she added, referring to the highest level of negative impacts to air quality and biological resources referenced in the project’s final Environmental Impact Report.

The county staff report states that three trains a week — or 150 a year — would reduce the significant toxic air emissions to no longer be considered a “Class 1 significant impact.”

However, the county’s planning staff said other significant impacts still would harm the environment even with three trains per week rather than five: construction of the facilities would still disturb environmentally sensitive habitat, and emissions of diesel particulate matter would still remain a “Class 1” impact.

Thompson also told the commission that federal preemption would prevent the commission from imposing conditions along the main rail line to mitigate potential environmental impacts.

In addition, she said, if the project is denied, crude oil will still come into California by rail and eventually reach the refinery, albeit by a different route: Oil would arrive in the Central Valley by train and then be trucked about 110 miles through San Luis Obispo County to Santa Maria, where it would be pumped into a pipeline and sent to the refinery.

“It’s impermissible for you to say that you’re going to deny the project because there’s a train on the tracks,” she said. “The train will come to the San Joaquin Valley and you will be dealing with trucks.”

In response, several local residents said they would prefer trucks over trains, and one San Jose resident said that wouldn’t mean anything to Bay Area residents. “That doesn’t mean anything to us in Northern California,” Jill Sardegna said. “For us there will be trains, one mile long.”

Trains carrying crude oil could enter California at five locations, so the exact routes may vary. Trains from Northern California would generally pass through the Union Pacific rail yard in Roseville, near Sacramento; trains traveling from Southern California would likely pass through the Colton rail yard in San Bernardino County.

The company now receives crude by pipeline.

Phillips 66 officials have repeatedly said oil production in California is dropping, and bringing in crude oil by rail from a wider range of sources would allow the company to offset any reduction in deliveries from its current suppliers. Phillips 66 officials have said the project would maintain more than 200 jobs at the refinery, plus $2.2 million in annual tax revenue to the county.

When asked during a break if layoffs could happen if the project is denied, Phillips 66 spokesman Dennis Nuss said, “We’re going to wait and see what is going to happen with the process.”

Several speakers argued that Phillips 66 does not need the project to maintain its current number of employees, but is only interested in increasing profits.

“All they want are some tracks for a rail spur, that all sounds quite harmless,” Nipomo resident Michele Schneiderman said. “They want to make SLO County a hub for the corporation’s stated crude oil by rail strategy.”

If the plan is approved, the refinery would not increase the amount of material processed there, and no crude oil or refined product would be transported out of the refinery by rail, the company has said. The refined product would be piped to the Rodeo Refinery in Contra Costa County — the same as the refinery’s current operation, according to a staff report.

Currently, no more than six freight trains and six passenger trains pass through San Luis Obispo County each day on the Union Pacific’s Coast line. Freight trains already carry crude oil, as well as lumber, vehicles and hazardous materials, according to the rail project’s environmental report. A crude oil train traverses the county as it moves from San Ardo to Los Angeles two to three times a week. It has been in operation for about 20 years.

San Luis Obispo Mayor Jan Marx was among the elected officials or their representatives who urged denial of the project. “Whether it’s five or three trains, our city would be placed at unique risk to this project,” she said.

Paso Robles High School student Gabby Davis also spoke “on behalf of peers at school and youth in the community.”

“How would it make you feel to know that one day you get a phone call and because of an oil train derailment one of your great grandchildren will be impacted,” she asked the commissioners. “Oil trains are dinosaurs and dinosaurs belong in museums.”

At lunch, about 600 people from around the state rallied across the street from the hearing to protest the project. Some supporters were seen too, with green “Protect Jobs” signs, but they were far outnumbered by opponents with “Stop Oil Trains Now” posters and signs proclaiming, “We Risk, They Benefit” and “Invest in Solar.”

Environmental activist candidate Heidi Harmon, a protest organizer, initiated a call-and-response chant, “childen’s safety under attack … stand up, fight back.”

Among the rally speakers were 24th District congressional candidates Helene Schneider and Salud Carbajal of Santa Barbara.

“All it takes is just one train for a disaster to occur that could wreak havoc,” Schneider, who is mayor of Santa Barbara, told the sign-waving crowd of activists who came from as far away as Los Angeles, Ventura, the San Francisco Bay Area, Fresno and other communities that would be affected by the proposed rail project.

Carbajal, a Santa Barbara County supervisor, cited his opposition to fracking and concerns about public health and safety as his reasons for opposing the Phillips proposal.

“You have to put action to your words or else you’re just blowing hot air,” Carbajal said.

Project opponents at the protest rally included representatives of the California Nurses Association, Surfrider Foundation, and teachers who said school districts along the rail line throughout the state opposed the project. Many had sent letters of opposition to the county over the past year.

Their main concerns were the potential for dangerous explosions from oil trains and toxins released from the transport of diesel fuel.

Cal Poly student Kyle Jordan said the university’s Associated Students Inc. student government board voted in favor of a resolution opposing the project as well.

“The official voice of 20,000 students encourages the Planning Commission to reject this proposal,” Jordan said.

Tribune staff writer Nick Wilson contributed to this report.

San Luis Obispo Planning Department recommends DENIAL of proposed Phillips 66 oil trains terminal

From an email by Ethan Buckner of ForestEthics
[Editor:  Here is the San Luis Obispo County staff document, “Findings for Denial.” This and more documents can be found on the County’s website.  See also Ethan’s update: “SLO County Staff Tells County to DENY Phillips 66 Oil Train Terminal” with info on how YOU can attend the hearings in San Luis Obispo.  – RS]

BREAKING: San Luis Obispo Planning Department recommends DENIAL of proposed Phillips 66 oil trains terminal

By Ethan Buckner, January 25, 2016
BREAKING: SLO County Planning Department Staff recommends denial of the Phillips 66 oil trains terminal
Click here for info on transportation to the hearings & rally.

Extraordinary news this afternoon out of San Luis Obispo, California, where Phillips 66 proposed to build an oil trains terminal at its refinery on the Nipomo Mesa.

Ahead of critical county Planning Commission hearings on the project, the SLO County Planning Department released their staff report recommending denial of the projectThis document is pretty unprecedented from municipal or county planning staff, who in most cases serve as conduits for industry and placaters of public concern. This document reflects a bold assertion of principles of public health, safety, and climate protection over corporate profit. At the bottom of the email, I’ve pasted the main arguments the county is using to recommend denial.

Come hearing time on February 4 and 5, local activists and allies across California will converge on SLO to make sure that Planning Commissioners listen to their own experts and overwhelming public opposition and stamp in this project’s denial. For those of you able to join us in SLO, here’s some info on transportation to the hearings & rally.

The Planning Department’s recommendations do not come out of nowhere. Over the past two years grassroots activists in SLO and beyond have catalyzed a powerful campaign that’s engaged thousands of Californians and enrolled dozens upon dozens of cities, counties, school boards, unions, and campuses to pressure SLO County to deny this project. This recommendation is an affirmation of our collective power.

Many thanks for all your tireless work, and hope to see you in SLO on February 4 and 5!

In solidarity,
Ethan

1. The Department of Planning and Building has found the Project to be inconsistent with several goals and policies of the following plans:

a. Coastal Zone Framework for Planning

b. County’s Conservation and Open Space Element

c. Costal Plan Policies d. Safety Element

e. Coastal Zone Land Use Ordinance

f. South County Area Plan

2. The Project would be detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the public and the residents of San Luis Obispo County due to the increase of hazardous accidents as a result of the Project.

3. The Project includes a significant and unavoidable environmental impact with regards to cancer risk (air quality) for the population near the proposed rail spur.

4. The Project includes a significant and unavoidable environmental impact with regards to diesel particulate matter (air quality) due to an exceedance of the SLOCAPCD CEQA threshold.

5. The Project would result in 10 significant and unavoidable environmental impacts (agricultural resources, four which are air quality, biological, cultural, hazards, public services, and water resources), with regards to the mainline rail operations within the County as a result of the Project. Planning Commission Development Plan/Coastal Development Permit #DRC2012-00095 / Phillips 66 Company Page 6

6. The Project would result in 10 significant and unavoidable environmental impacts (agricultural resources, four which are air quality, biological, cultural, hazards, public services, and water resources), with regards to the mainline rail operations beyond San Luis Obispo County and throughout the State.

7. There is a lack of specific overriding economic, legal, social, technological, or other benefits of the Project that outweigh the significant effects on the environment, as would be required to approve the Project pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21081.

Video: Stop Oil Trains in California

Repost from email by Ethan Buckner, Forest Ethics

For the past few years, momentum is building all along communities throughout California concerned about the growing threat of oil trains. ForestEthics, in partnership with filmmaker Bunker Seyfert, is excited to share this new short piece highlighting the campaign to stop the proposed Phillips 66 oil train terminal in San Luis Obispo County.
Please watch and share!  – Ethan Buckner, US Organizer, ForestEthics

Stop #OilTrains in California

California could be the site of the next oil train disaster, unless we take action now at ProtectSLO.org.

Multinational oil company Phillips 66 is proposing to expand its San Luis Obispo County refinery to receive oil trains carrying explosive, toxic, and carbon-intensive tar sands oil. If approved, more of these oil trains will begin rolling through California’s communities, threatening schools, homes, community centers, and parks. Over 5 million California residents live in the oil train blast zone.

The San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors will make the final decision on this project, and they need to hear from us – residents of SLO County and other impacted California communities. Take action now and tell SLO County decision makers to reject this dangerous project.

Take action now at ProctetSLO.org.

San Luis Obispo Refinery Wants Oil by Train

Repost from The Santa Barbara Independent

SLO Refinery Wants Oil by Train

Phillips 66 Runs into Public Resistance over Proposal to Lay New Tracks and Unload More Canadian Crude

By Natalie Cherot, January 23, 2015

Courtesy PhotoA slow-moving pipeline moves a haul of crude oil to a refinery just north of the Santa Barbara County border. Stand on the nearby coast’s 18,000-year-old sand dunes and look away from the sea, and a perfect view emerges of the expansive Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery. The name is a misnomer. The San Luis Obispo facility on the Nipomo Mesa is 17 miles northwest from the City of Santa Maria. Directly south is the Santa Maria River.

Golden Sierra Madre mountains shimmer in the distance, and hearty sage scrub surrounds its perimeter alongside grazing cattle. The night sky around the facility is never dark; its aquarium lights border on festive. The illumination is necessary because the refinery is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It begins the process of turning crude into a finished product like gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel, and pumps the semi-refined batches 200 miles north to the San Francisco Bay Area plants for finishing.

With oil prices dropping and California supplies both dwindling and facing harsh competition from North Dakota, much speculation swirls on the question of what kind of oil will arrive to the refinery on the dunes in the coming years. Right now it is “mostly used for California-produced oil,” said Phillips 66 spokesperson Rich Johnson.

But as of 2013, Phillips 66’s newest product is Canadian tar sands, a thick, gooey combination of clay, sand, water, and viscous bitumen. It’s hard to control and expensive to process. The Kearl Lake tar sands field cuts through Alberta’s boreal forest and wetlands, and has been turned into a mined landscape. An estimated 170 billion more barrels are still available for the taking.

In the summer of 2013, Phillips 66 submitted permit applications to San Luis Obispo County’s Planning Commission to add 1.3 miles of train track to its Santa Maria Refinery’s existing rail spur so crude can be delivered by train rather than by pipe. The proposed upgrades, which include five parallel tracks, an unloading facility, and new on-site pipelines, wouldn’t increase the amount of crude processed at the facility — volume is capped by the county’s Air Pollution Control District — but they reflect an increasing amount of oil train traffic across the country. BusinessWeek.com reported that it’s tripled in the last four years.

According to the project’s draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR), the facility would be able to handle five train unloads a week for a maximum of 250 a year. Each train with about 80 tanks on board would carry between 1.8 million and 2.1 million gallons of crude.

A first draft of the EIR — which indicated that both Canadian tar sands and North Dakota Bakken formation crude would be carried on the trains — was published that fall and received 800 public comments. The massive amount of feedback, much of it negative, prompted the Planning Commission to delay a final decision on the project. The commission issued a second 889-page draft EIR in October 2014, and a few weeks from now, a public comment period will take place. The date has not been finalized.

The biggest contention in the first draft was about Bakken crude. “The bottom line is Bakken Crude likes to burn and it will not take much to get it going,” wrote Paul Lee, battalion chief for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in a letter to the San Luis Obispo Planning and Building Department. For preparation of the second draft EIR, Phillips 66 requested the county “delete statements suggesting that the Bakken oilfield as the most likely source of crude oil.” The new draft EIR states no Bakken will arrive by rail. Phillips’s spokesperson Rich Johnson said the refinery can’t handle the sweeter, lighter Bakken crude, as it specializes in the ultra-heavy tar sands.

Four accidents involving Bakken crude are mentioned in the latest report. A 30,000-barrel spill occurred in April 2014 in Lynchburg, Virginia, when a transport train derailed and erupted into flames. In November 2013, a train jumped the tracks in Aliceville, Alabama. Twelve tanker cars of Bakken spilled and caught fire. The next month, another oil train crashed in Casselton, North Dakota, where 20 cars of Bakken exploded and burned for 24 hours. Forty-seven people died when a train carrying the crude derailed and exploded in Quebec on July 2013.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has issued a warning to move transportation of Bakken oil away from highly populated areas because of explosion risks. “Most think that Crude will not get going unless it gets warmed up first and in some cases that is correct, [but] Bakken Crude does not need to be aggravated to burn or even explode,” wrote Lee. “The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) is concerned about its ability to explode so much in fact that there is a recommendation to have rail avoid populated areas.”

Phillips 66’s rail expansion plan is part of larger national strategy to better accommodate tar sands coming out of the ground quicker than the current system of pipelines can handle. “Our real challenge that we have, or opportunity that we have, is to get advantaged crudes to the East Coast and West Coast,” said Greg Garland, chairman and CEO of Phillips 66, at the Barclays CEO Energy-Power Conference last year. “So we’re working that in terms of moving Canadian crudes down into California or building rail facilities.”

Two thousands miles north in Alberta, Canada, the contentious Keystone XL pipeline would transport tar sands through Montana, Nebraska, Illinois, Oklahoma, and Houston. The pipeline’s foes claim the fuel is too emission-intensive and corrosive to pipelines. Supporters say if the Keystone XL is blocked, tar sands will come by the more dangerous transportation methods of boat or rail. Recent Philips 66 literature states: “Until new pipeline projects come online, rail is in many cases the easiest and most cost efficient way to get advantaged crude to some of our refineries.”

Trains coming and going from Santa Maria Refinery would travel the path of the Union Pacific Rail, on tracks shared by Amtrak. They would make the journey north through the Nipomo Mesa, up the precarious Cuesta Grade through Paso Robles, Salinas, and San Jose. Then they head through Richmond, then Berkeley. Richmond and Berkeley city councils recently passed resolutions calling for stricter regulations on crude oil trains.

The paths of the trains coming from the south — and carrying crude from any number of sources — are unclear and not ironed out in the draft EIR, but they would likely go through Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. A potential path indicated in the report heads through downtown Moorpark at the eastern edge of Ventura County after it passes through Simi Valley, but that potential route may have hit a glitch.

On December 17, the Moorpark City Council voted to send a letter to the San Luis Obispo Planning Commission opposing Phillip 66’s proposal because of its potentially hazardous risks. “I feel strongly that we need to show a little bit of leadership here as a city to formally object to this,” said one councilmember. “Hopefully other cities along this track will as well.” According to the report, once the trains leave Moorpark they could head through Camarillo to Ventura and along the coast to Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, and Goleta.

Johnson does not see much long-term job growth — or even stability — at the refinery given its current pipeline setup and a recent dip in statewide supplies. To stay competitive, company officials have argued, the refinery needs to revamp its intake methods so it can accept crude from other sources. “We are trying to keep the jobs we have,” Johnson said of the 200 people working at the plant. “Oil production in California is on the decline.” Rumors of a too-twisted and warped Monterey Shale formation from years of tectonic activity became a public reality in May when the government agency, Energy Information Administration, downgraded a predicted 13.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil to 600 million.