Repost from Safe Benicia.org (KGO News Radio 810AM)
Andres Soto interviewed by KGO Radio on Valero’s dangerous Crude by Rail project in Benicia.
Category Archives: Valero Benicia Refinery
KTVU OAKLAND: New push to make rail cars safer
Repost from KTVU Channel 2, Oakland, CA
Andrés Soto from Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community is interviewed in this KTVU TV report. “….the grass roots group, Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community, is not buying it: ‘There have been numerous…incidents with these rail cars. Even the improved rail cars, most recently at Lynchburg, Virginia,’ says Soto.”
OAKLAND: New push to make rail cars safer
Benicia OKs Sacramento request for more time to review crude oil rail shipment plans
Repost from The Sacramento Bee
Benicia OKs Sacramento request for more time to review crude oil rail shipment plans
By Tony Bizjak, Saturday, Jul. 12, 2014
Benicia has granted a request by Sacramento officials and others for extra time to review a plan by Valero Refining Co. to run two trains daily carrying crude oil through downtown Sacramento, Roseville, West Sacramento and Davis to its Bay Area refinery. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments, which represents local cities and counties, had requested extra time, saying they are concerned about the project’s safety risks. The new response deadline is Sept. 15, officials said.
Valero is asking the city of Benicia for an OK to begin receiving daily crude-by-rail shipments, including possibly the more volatile oil from the North Dakota Bakken fields. Federal officials issued a warning this year about that fuel after several train explosions, including one that killed 47 people in Canada.
The Valero plan, involving two 50-car trains a day through Sacramento, is among the first of what California officials say is an expected boom in crude-by-rail shipments through the state, prompted by the lower cost of North Dakota and Canadian crude.
The draft environmental report, issued last month by Benicia, included an analysis that says a derailment and spill might happen only once every 111 years. That analysis was authored by a University of Illinois professor, Christopher Barkan, who formerly worked for the American Association of Railroads and does research supported by the association. Barkan, an expert on hazardous rail transport, said in an email that his work for Benicia was not influenced by his association with the railroad association.
Local officials say they plan to issue written responses to that assessment this summer. City of Davis official Mike Webb has challenged the report risk assessment, saying, “It only needs to happen once to be a real problem.”
Also on Friday, a coalition of activists who oppose rail shipments of crude oil called on the state Legislature or the governor to ban or place a moratorium on construction of any more crude rail terminals similar to the one Valero is proposing.
The state Office of Spill Prevention and Response announced it will conduct a series of public workshops later this month soliciting opinions on how it should expand its work to inland areas, including along rail lines. The new state budget includes funding, from oil refinery fees, for the spill office to deal with the expected increase in crude oil shipments by rail. The agency will release information on its “legal and regulations” Web page on Friday.
KQED: Benicia Extends Public Comment Period on Bay Area Crude-by-Rail
Repost from KQED Science
Benicia Extends Public Comment Period on Bay Area Crude-by-Rail
Molly Samuel, KQED Science | July 11, 2014Benicia city officials are giving people more time to comment on a proposal to bring crude oil by rail to Valero’s refinery there. The Benicia Planning Commission made the decision on Thursday night after hearing two hours of testimony. All but three speakers were in favor of extending the comment period, citing summer vacations and the complexity of the project’s draft environmental impact report.
Valero is looking to take advantage of the North American oil boom by bringing the crude in by rail, instead of overseas by ship.
The project has raised safety concerns in the community. There have been several fiery oil train derailments in other parts of the country in the past year, and last summer a train carrying crude oil exploded in the town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, killing 47 people.
“That is not going to happen here,” said Dan Broadwater, business manager for the Napa and Solano County electrical workers union. He pointed out that Valero’s Benicia refinery is one of only two refineries in the state that are recognized by the California Voluntary Protection Program for its safety record. (The other is Valero’s refinery in Wilmington, a neighborhood near Long Beach.)
Other speakers said that it’s not just about safety at the Valero plant.
“We believe this is actually a regional issue,” Lynne Nittler, of Davis, told the commission. “Your decision here has a profound impact on those of us who live up-rail.”
If the project is given the go-ahead, two 50-car trains a day would travel on Union Pacific tracks through the Roseville rail yard near Sacramento. Combined, they would deliver up to 70,000 barrels of crude oil a day to the Valero refinery, offsetting crude delivered by ship. The refinery also receives crude from the San Joaquin Valley via pipeline.
Valero representatives have said the trains will be scheduled so that they don’t interfere with traffic in Benicia during rush hour. Union Pacific is responsible for dispatching trains on its tracks, including Amtrak’s Capital Corridor trains, which travel the same route.
Valero has also said it will use upgraded tank cars, rather than older cars that have been involved in the explosive derailments.
The public comment period on the project now ends on September 15, a 45-day extension. Comments can be submitted to Amy Million, principal planner: amillion@ci.benicia.ca.us. Fax and snail mail address are available here.
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