Tag Archives: Uprail communities

Biological resources, Climate Change, Cumulative impacts, Environmental Impacts, Uprail communities

Latest Benicia DEIR comments: Center For Biological Diversity, Communities for a Better Environment, Natural Resources Defense Council

On December 16, the City of Benicia released yet another document highly critical of the Valero Crude-by-Rail Draft EIR.  The massive report was submitted for the record on December 5 by the Center for Biological Diversity, Communities for a Better Environment, and Natural Resources Defense Council.  The document focuses on biological resources and climate change.  Many thanks to our friends in these excellent organizations!

The summary page follows:

CBD-CBE-NRDC_lttrhdDecember 5, 2014

Amy Million, Principal Planner
Community Development Department
250 East L Street
Benicia, CA 94510
amillion@ci.benicia.ca.us

Re: The City of Benicia’s Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Valero Benicia Crude by Rail Project

Dear Ms. Million,

On behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, Communities for a Better Environment, and Natural Resources Defense Council, we submit the following comments on the City of Benicia’s Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Valero Benicia Crude by Rail Project (Project). The Project, if approved, would allow the Valero refinery to receive up to 70,000 barrels per day of crude oil by train, which equates to a potential for 1.07 billion gallons of crude oil imported by train each year.

These comments supplement prior comment letters by detailing the significant deficiencies in the DEIR’s assessment of impacts to Biological Resources in Section 4.2. Specifically the DEIR (1) fails to adequately analyze and mitigate impacts to biological resources at the Project area; (2) fails to adequately analyze and mitigate impacts along the rail lines serving the Project; (3) fails to properly analyze the cumulative impacts of increased crude oil shipments on biological resources; and (4) fails to adequately evaluate impacts related to climate change.

Because this Project would result in significant impacts to biological resources, the City cannot certify the DEIR before adopting all feasible mitigation measures. At present, the DEIR fails to identify and analyze mitigation measures that would reduce the Project’s impacts.

However, there are numerous mitigation measures and alternatives that would reduce the impacts of the Project. These measures must be analyzed in the DEIR, so that the full range of options are publicly disclosed and considered by decision‐makers.

[Editor: The document continues … Note that the “Public Comment” link below goes to a huge 584-page document on the City’s website, a 24mb download.  WordPress will not allow an upload of this magnitude here on The Benicia Independent.  The bulk of the document (570 pages) is supplemental studies, all important, but for the heart of the document, see the 14-page Comment Letter minus the supplements.  – RS)

Public Comments October 17-December 15, 2014  (A single comment letter, from the Center for Biological Diversity, Communities for a Better Environment, and Natural Resources Defense Council.)

DEIR, Take Action, Uprail communities, Valero Crude By Rail

Davis holding 2 more Workshops: How To Respond to Draft EIR – July 3 & July 8

Repost from Yolano Climate Action (Google Group)

Monday, June 30, 2014
Subject: two upcoming oil train EIR workshop opportunities July 3 & 8

Public Workshop 2 – Responding to Draft Environmental Impact Report on Crude-by-Rail Oil Trains through Davis

 Thursday, July 3 and Tuesday, July 8
7:00-9:00 p.m.
The Blanchard Room at the Davis Branch Library

Bring questions, ideas for topics, drafts and laptops
Bring a friend!  Every letter adds impact!
Exercise your civic rights with written comments!

Homework for July 3 and 8:

  1. If you have a little time – Go to www.benindy.wpengine.com and browse to get an overview of the project, the EIR (table of contents), news article titles since last August, and how to submit your comments.  You’ll have fun and get ideas for what aspect you want to address in your response.
  2. If you have more time:  pick an idea you might want to write about, such as liability issues in the event of an accident or spill, or the regional impact of one train of 100 cars each day; how to weigh risk vs benefit and how this project measures up, etc.    Then look through the DEIR report (posted at www.benindy.wpengine.com) for a section that might address your topic and read it. See if you spot faulty reasoning, or important concepts that are missing, etc.  Jot down notes or make a rough draft.  It will be most effective if you can cite evidence!
  3. If you can’t resist going deeper, or you have a knack for reading EIR reports, plunge in wholeheartedly and tackle as much as you wish.   Your letter can address more than one point, but again, the more serious and thoughtful each point is, the better. Clearly separate each point you want to make.

Agenda for July 3 and 8

  1. Updates
  2. Check-in
    • —-Who has a draft for feedback?
    • —- Who has an idea?  Needs suggestions for development?  Evidence?  Where it fits in the EIR?
    • —-Who needs an idea for a response?
  3. Working together or in groups
  4. Other assignments
    • —-Write to federal senators and congressional reps (testing the crude & reducing the volatility, tank car safety standards, train speeds, right-to-know issues, ideas from NRDC testimony, etc.)
    • —-Sign up to gather signatures.
    • —-Send model letters to us to use as models for others writers.
  5. Join the nation-wide actions commemorating the one-year anniversary of the Lac-Megantic crude-by-rail derailment and explosion.  In Davis, make a sign “Stop Crude by Rail” and join others at the Amtrak station on July 9th at rush hour.  Contact Reeda Palmer for details at reedajpalmer@aol.com
  6. Carpool to the Benicia Planning Commission Public Hearing on the Valero DEIR on July 10, 7pm, Council Chambers, City Hall,250 East L Street, Benicia.  Up-rail participants are needed to show the regional impact of the project.

Contact:  Lynne Nittler at lnittler@sbcglobal.net
— Yolano Climate Action the go to place for climate activism in Yolo and Solano Counties

City of Benicia, Davis CA, DEIR, Rail Safety, Rail tanker cars

Open Letter: Davis Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk to Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson

Repost from The Peoples’ Vanguard, of Davis, CA

Open Letter from Dan Wolk on Crude Oil Transport

February 16, 2014

Richard-2nd-St

Editor’s note: The following letter was submitted to the Vanguard by Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk. He wanted to be clear he was writing the letter as an individual Councilmember, and not speaking on behalf of the Davis City Council or the City of Davis. In late January, more than fifty people attended the Davis Natural Resources Commission meeting expressing their concern about the transportation of crude oil by rail through Davis. On February 3, Lynne Nittler co-authored a piece in the Vanguard on this issue.

February 12, 2014
The Honorable Mayor Elizabeth Patterson
City of Benicia
250 East L Street
Benicia, California 94510

Dear Mayor Patterson:

I am writing to express my and my constituents’ serious concerns over the proposed upgrading of the rail terminal at the Valero refinery to take in as much as 70,000 barrels of crude oil a day. I should make clear that I am writing this as an individual Councilmember; I am not speaking for the City Council or the City of Davis.

The proposed upgrade would substantially increase the amount of crude oil passing through our community and others along the rail line each day, with much of that oil coming from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota. This oil appears to be more explosive, as demonstrated by the tragic accident in the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, last year which killed 47 people when a train carrying such oil derailed.

In both a literal and figurative sense, that rail line runs through the heart of our community. I myself commute along this same rail line to and from my “day job” as a Deputy County Counsel for Solano County. The thought of 100 tank cars full of Bakken Shale oil running through our community each day is absolutely disconcerting. A similar accident in Davis as the one in Quebec would likely produce even more catastrophic results, in terms of loss of life and the destruction of our downtown.

I am currently exploring with a number of others what options our community and other “up line” communities have, recognizing that some measures, including requiring safer rail cars, are beyond our authority. In the meanwhile I wanted to share the above concerns with you.

I look forward to speaking with you more about this project and I look forward to reviewing the draft EIR.

Sincerely,

Dan Wolk