Keeping Watch on Earth News

Phillips 66 Dismisses Lawsuit Fighting for California Oil Train Expansion

Press Release from Center for Biological Diversity
(See also The SLO Tribune, Phillips 66 oil-by-rail plan is dead AND Public News Service’s Oil Train Project Stopped in its Tracks as Company Drops Fight)

For Immediate Release, October 2, 2017
Contact: Clare Lakewood, (510) 274-9713, clakewood@biologicaldiversity.org

Phillips 66 Dismisses Lawsuit Fighting for California Oil Train Expansion

Dismissal Comes After Environmental Groups Intervene

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif.— Phillips 66 agreed today to dismiss its lawsuit challenging the county of San Luis Obispo’s denial of its proposed oil train terminal in the coastal town of Nipomo, Calif.

“Phillips 66 has finally given up fighting the county’s rejection of its reckless plan to run trains carrying explosive crude oil through California,” said Clare Lakewood, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity’s Climate Law Institute. “We’re relieved that the county’s decision to protect communities and wildlife from toxic air pollution, train derailments and oil spills will stand.”

The terminal would have allowed more than 7 million gallons of crude oil, including tar sands oil, per week to be shipped by train from across North America to Phillips 66’s Nipomo Mesa refinery.

Tar sands crude, when prepared for transport, is thinned with an unstable blend of chemicals that can explode in derailment incidents, which have become increasingly frequent in recent years.

Trains servicing the terminal would have traveled through hundreds of California cities, including Los Angeles, Sacramento, Davis, Berkeley, Oakland and San Jose. The plan also threatened ecologically sensitive areas like the San Francisco Bay and California’s central coast.

Phillips 66 proposed its Rail Spur Project in 2013. During the nearly three-year review process, more than 20,000 Californians voiced opposition to the project, and more than 45 cities, counties and school boards sent letters urging the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission to deny it.

The planning commission denied the proposal in October 2016, and the county Board of Supervisors denied the company’s appeal last March. The county denied the project because, among other reasons, the site contains ecologically sensitive habitat areas and the increased diesel emissions would significantly worsen local air quality. Phillips 66 then sued the Board of Supervisors challenging the habitat determination.

The Center and five other environmental groups were granted permission to intervene in the lawsuit to defend the environmental review process and the county’s decision. The groups and the county filed a motion to dismiss in June, arguing that Phillips 66 failed to appeal the decision to the California Coastal Commission before pursuing litigation as required by state law. Facing the motion Phillips 66 agreed to dismiss the suit.

“Phillips 66 failed to silence the many Californians who took a stand against this risky fossil fuel project that would slow our state’s transition to a clean energy future,” said Lakewood. “I hope the county continues to defend public safety and vulnerable wildlife habitat from ill-conceived oil and gas expansions.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.5 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
Benicia Industrial Park, Derailment, Petroleum Coke (Petcoke)

Six Benicia derailments in last five years – Union Pacific investigating

Repost from the Benicia Herald
[Editor: For background on the 6 derailments in the Benicia Industrial Park over the last 5 years, see my recent article, Train cars come off the tracks in Benicia Industrial Park – again…  – RS]

Union Pacific still investigating cause of derailment Saturday

By George Johnston, September 29, 2017

A Union Pacific Railroad train derailed in Benicia on Saturday afternoon [September 23, 2017].

The train, consisting of nine hopper cars, derailed near Bayshore Road in the Benicia Industrial Park around 3:40 p.m. No injuries were reported from the incident, and no hazardous materials were spilled. Union Pacific Railroad is currently investigating the situation, representatives for the company said.

Since 2013, at least six train derailments have been reported in the Industrial Park. The most recent prior to Saturday’s accident included two over the course of a week last October. In all instances, no injuries or spillages were reported.

Air pollution, Air Quality, Federal Regulation (U.S.), Fuel economy, Keeping Watch on Earth News

Stop Trump’s bold move: STAND UP FOR CLEANER CARS

Repost from The Climate Reality Project

STAND UP FOR CLEANER CARS

The Trump Administration has announced it will reopen the midterm review of fuel efficiency and clean car standards – a process completed less than a year ago when more than 8,000 Climate Reality supporters spoke out for higher fuel economy standards. Now, we’re asking you to speak up again.

These standards reduce smog and dangerous carbon pollution, save American families money, and protect vital manufacturing jobs.

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Dear Administrator Pruitt… PLEASE sign onto the letter – click here!

Benicia Industrial Park, Derailment

Train cars come off the tracks in Benicia Industrial Park – again…

(Note dates of 6 derailments 2013-2017 and links to each below …)
(See also update on 9/29/17, “Six Benicia derailments in last five years – Union Pacific investigating”)

Sixth derailment in five years

Derailment in Benicia Industrial Park, 09-23-17

On Saturday September 23, 2017, several train cars derailed in Benicia’s Industrial Park. A local eyewitness reported passing by the scene at around 11:30pm on the 23rd. He saw ten covered gray hopper cars off the tracks, and rails torn apart, showing damage for about a tenth of a mile.

Youtube video, Constance Beutel, 9/24/17

By midday Sunday, the area was still closed to auto traffic. Local videographer Constance Beutel couldn’t see much, but surveyed the scene from a distance, and posted the result to YouTube.

A quick look back shows that there have been six such incidents in the Benicia Industrial Park in less than five years. *

I wrote to Beutel, indicating that we have a derailment like this on average of more than once a year. She wrote back, “Surely your data is wrong?  Didn’t the Valero Crude By Rail draft EIR clearly state that a derailment, given the data, would happen once in 111 years?  smile emoticon “

Well, not quite. The prediction was actually that there would be a crude oil release once every 111 years.  But given all the catastrophic derailments and explosions during those years, everyone knew that was just an industry snow job.

Thank goodness Valero’s dirty and dangerous proposal was stopped in its tracks!

* Background on the 6 derailments in Benicia 2013-2017: