California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Pittsburg WesPac

Diane Bailey: California Attorney General Letter, Protests in Pittsburg 1/21/14

Repost from Diane Bailey’s blog, Switchboard, Natural Resources Defense Council

California Attorney General Tells Major Oil Terminal Developer, WesPac, to Hold Up in Pittsburg

Posted January 17, 2014 by Diane Bailey in Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment,Moving Beyond Oil

The California Attorney General, Kamala D. Harris, sent a stark letter to the City of Pittsburg this week warning of “significant legal problems” with the documentation around the proposed WesPac mega oil terminal. The eleven page letter noted “fundamental defects” and “errors” in the Recirculated Draft Environmental Impact Report for the 242,000 barrel per day rail and marine terminal for failing to do the following:

  • Adequately disclose and analyze local air quality impacts to the already impacted community of Pittsburg;
  • Consider the effects to other Bay Area communities of refining the new crudes;
  • Propose and analyze feasible mitigation that could reduce local air quality, impacts;
  • Adequately disclose and address the risk of accidents that could result from transportation and storage of the new crudes;
  • Fully disclose and consider mitigation for the Project’s climate change-related impacts; and
  • Consider a reasonable range of feasible alternatives that could reduce the Project’s significant impacts.

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The letter urges the City of Pittsburg to correct these problems before moving forward. However, these issues arise from fundamental and serious environmental, health and safety flaws that are inherent to the project. NRDC together with dozens of other advocates, civic leaders and thousands of residents have raised these issues repeatedly over the past few months as awareness of the project has grown.  A rally and march last weekend brought hundreds out to demonstrate their pride in Pittsburg and opposition to the WesPac project.

This Tuesday, January 21st, another rally is planned in front of City Hall (65 Civic Avenue, Pittsburg) at 5pm before the City Council meeting. Please come show your support for a healthy and safe Pittsburg, before the city moves forward with this dirty and dangerous oil terminal. Pittsburg deserves better.

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