Category Archives: Local Regulation

Davis Enterprise: Council passes unanimous resolution: no oil trains here

Repost from The Davis Enterprise
[Editor: Thanks to Milton Kalish of Davis for referring us to this story in the Davis Enterprise.  – RS]

No more oil trains chugging through our town, says Davis City Council

By Elizabeth Case | From page A1 | April 23, 2014

The Davis City Council passed a unanimous resolution Tuesday opposing projects in Benicia and Santa Maria that would increase the number of oil trains running through the city until certain safety issues have been addressed.

If both the Philips 66 Santa Maria refinery project and the Benicia rail terminal proposal are approved, 180 more oil cars will chug daily along Second Street and through downtown. A majority would roll in from Canada and North Dakota, whose Bakken shale oil has been recognized as especially flammable.

To support the opposition, the staff report cites the derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, last year that killed 47 people and caused $1 billion in damage, and the 1.15 million gallons of crude oil spilled in the United States in 2013. In addition, the railroad in Davis has one of the few turns in this area of the corridor, requiring trains to reduce their speeds.

“Given the record of crude-oil rail accidents in recent years, an event such as Lac-Mégantic could have catastrophic effects if it occurred amidst any populated area,” the report reads.

While railroads generally are regulated by the federal government, cities have local control over permits for land use, among others. The Davis City Council resolved to file comments opposing oil project permits “with the objective of ensuring that adequate … safety measures … are in place to ensure the safety and security of residents and visitors of the city of Davis and our adjacent habitat areas.”

The city will simultaneously work with railroad and transport companies, and the U.S. Department of Transportation, to assess and mitigate risk, including outdated rail cars and updated systems to warn operators of upcoming changes in speed.

The resolution’s passage followed a meeting hosted by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments on April 17. Berkeley’s city council passed a similar resolution opposing the Philips 66 project and Richmond called for tighter regulations last month.

Davis City Council votes to oppose crude by rail and to file comments under CEQA

City of Davis Council opposes Valero Crude by Rail

By Roger Straw, The Benicia Independent

On Tuesday, April 22, 2014, the Davis California City Council passed a resolution entitled “Opposition to Transportation of Crude Oil Through the City of Davis and Adjacent Habitat Areas.”

A highly significant passage reads as follows: “NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Davis hereby opposes using existing Union Pacific rail lines to transport hazardous crude oil through the City of Davis and adjacent habitat areas, and resolves to:  a) File comments in opposition on CEQA documents and any draft permit approvals, such as air permits or zoning changes for transport of crude, as they occur, for projects including, but not limited to the following: Santa Maria Refinery, Benicia Valero Refinery, with the objective of ensuring that adequate and appropriate safety measures, mitigations, and protocols are in place to ensure the safety and security of the residents .and visitors of the City of Davis and our adjacent habitat areas.”

Following are links to the Agenda, Staff Report, Resolution and video of the Council meeting.

Davis City Council Agenda Apr 22, 2014 – Agenda

AGENDA ITEM 4.B. 

Opposition to Transportation of Oil-by-Rail Rail Along the Union Pacific Railway through Davis for the Purposes of Ensuring Community Safety (Community Development & Sustainability Director Mike Webb/City Attorney Harriet Steiner)

Recommendation:

    1. Approve Resolution Opposing the Transportation of Crude Oil Through the City of Davis and Adjacent Habitat Areas
    2. Authorize the City Attorney and staff to undertake the action items set forth in the Resolution

Staff Report and Resolution
This is an excellent 7 page document.  Note that the Resolution might be a good model for other communities who wish to pursue a local ban on crude by rail.

Davis City Council Apr 22, 2014 – video
Discussion and vote on crude by rail begins at 1:39:50 and ends at 2:09:53.

 

 

Davis City Council to staff: prepare a resolution opposing crude by rail

Repost from The Davis Vanguard
[Editor: Note that this article appeared six weeks ago.  – RS]

Council Takes Stand on Crude Oil Transport by Rail

By Michelle Millet  |  March 15, 2014

Richard-2nd-St

Last Tuesday [March 11, 2014] Mike Webb, Director of Community Development & Sustainability, presented a status update to council on the Benicia/Valero Oil by Rail Project.

In December of 2012 the City of Benicia was presented with a Land Use Permit Application from the Valero Refining Company who owns and operates an oil refinery located in Benicia, California.

Valero is proposing the “Crude by Rail Project” which would allow the refinery to receive a larger proportion of its crude oil deliveries by railcar.

The Land Use Permit Application states,  ”The primary purpose of the Project is to allow Valero access to more North American sourced crudes that have recently become available. The only viable option for transporting the crude oil from the North American sources to the Refinery is by railroad. Therefore, the objective of this Project is to enable Valero to replace up to 70,000 bbl per day of the crude oil currently supplied to the Benicia Refinery by marine vessel with an equivalent amount of crude oil transported by rail cars.”

According to Webb’s staff presentation the city of Benicia is currently in the review process. It is preparing an Environmental Impact Report that is expected to be released for public review and comment in the next month. Once the report is released it is assumed that there will be a 45 day comment period, and hearings at the Benicia Planning Commission and City Council are likely.

The amount of crude oil being moved by train in this country is growing. According to an Associated Press article, “U.S. crude oil production is forecast to reach 8.5 million barrels a day by the end of 2014, up from 5 million barrels a day in 2008. The increase is overwhelmingly due to the fracking boom in the Bakken region, which is mainly in North Dakota, but also extends into parts of Montana and Canada.”

If the Benicia Valero Project is approved it is estimated that 100 rail cars carrying Bakken crude oil in tank cars could soon be coming through Davis every day. Concerns have been expressed over the fact that the older tank cars that carry much of this flammable crude oil are inadequate and prone to rupture easily.

On January 23, 2014 the National Transportation and Safety Board called for tougher standards on trains carrying crude oil “The large-scale shipment of crude oil by rail simply didn’t exist ten years ago, and our safety regulations need to catch up with this new reality,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “While this energy boom is good for business, the people and the environment along rail corridors must be protected from harm.”

In February Davis citizens  Lynne Nittler, Milton Kalish, and Matt Biers-Ariel wrote an article for the Vanguard where they laid out some of the concerns community members have expressed over the potential dangers that come with transporting crude oil by train car.

They stated, “In the last year there have been 10 major rail accidents involving oil trains in the U.S. and Canada.  Last July, 47 people perished in a massive fireball when a train containing Bakken crude derailed and exploded in the Canadian town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec. Four more oil trains have derailed in Canada since then. In November, a train carrying the same Bakken crude derailed in Alabama, possibly caused by trestle tracks that collapsed under the weight of the heavy tank cars. Twelve of the cars exploded, fortunately not in a populated area. In the last week of December, another 18 tank cars carrying Bakken crude derailed and exploded just outside of Casselton, North Dakota, forcing the town to evacuate to avoid the plumes of toxic smoke from the ensuing fires that burned for more than a day.  Another oil train derailed and exploded in New Brunswick days later.”

On January 27th over 50 people attended the Natural Resource Commission meeting where this topic was addressed.  During public comment on Tuesday night NRC member Allan Pryor stated,  ”The NRC had the largest turn out in over 3-4 years over this issue the chambers were packed. We have never had a crowd so large, and they were vocal and unanimous in their opposition.”

After over an hour of public comment during their January meeting NRC members voted to approve a list of recommendations to council. Among the recommendations was a request that the City of Davis submit formal comments to the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Benicia Valero Project when it is released for public comment.

One February 12, in an open letter to the Mayor of Benicia Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk stated, ”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.”  He continued, “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.”

Wolk clarified at Tuesday’s meeting that he was not against the proposed project, and spoke in favor of the jobs the project could create. But he reiterated his concerns over the safety implications that it presented.

In their report presented to council staff states that their efforts are currently focused on gathering background information and initiating collaboration with other jurisdictions and with elected representatives from Davis and the region, including the offices of State Senator Wolk, State Representative Yamada, and U.S. Representatives Garamendi, Matsui, and Thompson.

Staff presented council with two following recommendations on how to proceed:

  1. Direct staff to continue to gather data, monitor the Benicia Valero project, and actively partner with other agencies, and State and Federal Representatives, on coordination of review and comments.
  2. Direct staff to continue to engage with appropriate regulatory authorities regarding the safety of the existing railroad operations/speeds/curve in Davis.

Mayor Krovoza suggested a third recommendation that directed staff to prepare a resolution stating that the city of Davis would oppose crude oil by rail transport through our community.

Council member Brett Lee expressed concerns that a resolution of this sort was largely symbolic and too open ended to have the impact they were hoping for.  When Korvoza disagreed Lee  posed the question, “Do you really think the railroad is going to stop transporting oil on the railroad line because the Davis City Council says we don’t want it passing through our community?”

He continued, “I think a more effective way would be to focus on the safety aspects so that our community is protected and other communities are protected.”  Lee clarified that he was not in favor of these cars coming through our community, and went on to say that he did not believe that having a symbolic gesture “excuses us or take us off the hook for dealing with the public safety issue.”

Ultimately Krovoza put forth a motion, that was seconded by Lee, which directed staff to begin preparation of a resolution where by the city of Davis would oppose crude by rail transport through our community due to public safety concerns until further consideration, including understanding of risks and needed mitigation measures.

Feds to brief Local and State Oregon Officials

Repost from The Statesman Journal, Salem, Oregon

Crude oil train safety: Oregon leaders to get briefing

 Tracy Loew, Statesman Journal   |  April 26, 2014

State and local government officials will get a briefing on crude oil transport safety next week.

Gov. John Kitzhaber requested the meeting, which will lay out current practices and identify additional steps that may be taken to ensure that trains traveling in Oregon are operating as safely as possible.

Last year, 19,065 tank cars of oil moved along Oregon’s railroads, up from just 659 in 2007. Some of those trains run through the Willamette Valley, including Salem.

Shipments are expected to increase, boosting the risk of oil spills or explosions.

Much of the oil comes from the Bakken field in North Dakota, and is more flammable than traditional crude.

Nationwide, critics are calling for safer tank cars and better emergency planning.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said today he will propose a comprehensive package of rules next week to deal with oil trains.

Among the presenters at Tuesday’s briefing will be representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Coast Guard; and the Oregon State Fire Marshal, Department of Transportation Rail Division, Department of Environmental Quality, Office of Emergency Management and Governor’s Office; as well as Union Pacific, BNSF and Genesee & Wyoming railroads.

The meeting is not open to the public.