Category Archives: Valero Benicia Refinery

Benicia Planning Commission, Crude By Rail, Environmental Impacts, Final Draft Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), Local Regulation, Public Safety, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail

BREAKING: City of Davis urges Benicia to refuse to certify Valero oil train EIR

By Roger Straw, February 5, 2016

BREAKING: City of Davis urges Benicia to refuse to certify Valero oil train EIR

City_of_DavisThe Benicia Independent is in receipt of a City of Davis letter sent on February 3, 2016 to the City of Benicia, but not as yet posted on the City’s website. The letter is severely critical of the City’s Final EIR, and calls for the Benicia Planning Commission to decline to certify the massive 3-volume document.

If Benicia declines to certify the EIR, Valero would have to revise the environmental study yet again, or withdraw.  Many believe that Valero would instead appeal the Planning Commission’s decision to the Benicia City Council in hopes of a more favorable hearing.

The Davis letter is signed by Assistant City Manager Mike Webb, who writes, “These trains will travel…on the UPRR main railroad track which runs through the city of Davis, immediately adjacent to the Davis downtown area and to residential areas. The rail line also runs immediately adjacent to the University of California Davis campus.”

The heart of the letter reads, “Davis requests that Benicia reject the adequacy of the Final EIR (FEIR), decline to certify the FEIR, and send it back to staff to fully analyze mitigation measures for safety, as set forth in Davis’ and SACOG’s earlier letters and then to impose the measures suggested by SACOG and Davis, as well as any additional measures that are feasible.”

Webb calls upon Benicia to act responsibly: “As we have seen occur in other communities, a derailment and the potential for fire, explosion, and train upset is real and should not be ignored. It is the obligation of public agencies to safeguard all their communities to the best of their abilities.”

The letter continues with highly critical comments about the EIR, “Davis submits that the Final ElR is legally inadequate….When a lead agency disagrees with a comment, the response must address comment in detail. The lead agency must provide a good-faith, reasoned analysis; conclusory statements without facts are not adequate. The FElR fails to meet this  standard.”

Giving two detailed examples of the FEIR’s failure to address Davis’ previous comments, the letter concludes, “Benicia and Valero have the authority and ability to adopt measures that will be effective. The City of Davis again urges Benicia, for the safety of all the residents of this region, to reject the Final ElR as inadequate under CEQA and to analyze and adopt the feasible mitigation measures that are available in order to reduce the significant adverse impacts posed by this Project.”

Benicia Planning Commission, Crude By Rail, Environmental Impacts, Final Draft Environmental Impact Report (FEIR), Local Regulation, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail

BREAKING: Yolo County urges Benicia to mitigate impacts before approving Valero oil train project

By Roger Straw, February 5, 2016

BREAKING: Yolo County urges Benicia to mitigate impacts before approving Valero oil train project

Yolo_CountyThe Benicia Independent is in receipt of a Yolo County letter sent on January 26, 2016 to the City of Benicia, but not as yet posted on the City’s website.  The letter is severely critical of the City’s Final EIR, and calls for the Benicia Planning Commission to insist on measures that would offset significant environmental, health and safety impacts to communities along the Union-Pacific rail line.

Jim Provenza, Chair of the Yolo County Board of Supervisors writes, “Although the City’s revised analysis correctly acknowledges that the project will have significant impacts to communities along the Union-Pacific rail line, the County is concerned that these significant impacts are not sufficiently mitigated. Indeed, the City eschews its responsibility to consider possible mitigation measures on the incorrect premise that any such efforts would be preempted by federal law.”

The letter goes on to reference a letter sent to Benicia by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), in which the legal case is made that such mitigations are not preempted by federal law.

The letter concludes, “In light of the significant impacts identified in the Revised Draft EIR, we ask that the City of Benicia reconsider its position on preemption and not approve the project until the impacts are mitigated. SACOG’s October 30, 2015 letter provides mitigation measures that are both feasible and necessary to lessen the impact on our local communities. Without these mitigation measures in place, the project should not be approved.”

Benicia Planning Commission, Crude By Rail, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail

City of Benicia staff documents for Planning Commission

City staff’s all-out attempt to sell Valero oil train project

The following documents were released on January 28, when City of Benicia staff included them in their staff report to the Benicia Planning Commission, but they escaped my attention until today.  I noted (and posted links to) the Agenda and Staff Report soon after their release.  They appear on the Planning Commission page on the City website, but were not posted with the accumulation of project documents and public comments on the City’s Valero Crude By Rail page.  At the bottom of the Staff Report are links to the significant documents you will find below.  These Attachments are important – they represent our city staff’s impressive attempt to sell the Valero project to our Planning Commission.

Benicia Planning Commission, Crude By Rail, Public permitting, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail

Benicia city staff recommends approval of Valero oil trains

By Roger Straw, January 30, 2016
    • Staff dismisses comments by experts, residents, uprail communities
    • Staff recommends Planning Commission certify the EIR and approve the project
    • New procedures for speakers at public hearing on February 8 (See UPDATED version of Feb. 2 below.)
    • Your last chance to speak up – petition and hearing

On Thursday, January 28, 2016, Benicia staff released the agenda for the upcoming Planning Commission final hearings on Valero Crude by Rail.  Included along with the agenda was a 41-page staff report recommending approval of the project, and outlining a new sign-up procedure for those who want to comment at the public hearing.

Like the massive 3-volume Final Draft of the EIR, city staff chose to ignore critical input and to hide behind “federal preemption” in order to cater to the desires of our giant corporate neighbor, Valero.

Benicia residents are sorely disappointed with the decision of our city employees to disregard the health and safety of Benicians and others uprail in Davis, Sacramento and beyond.

The staff recommendation relies on the very same reasoning used by San Luis Obispo County staff to DENY a crude by rail project: what happens uprail can’t be controlled.  Because we can’t control Union Pacific, because only the Feds can have a say about rail shipping beyond local jurisdictions, we throw up our hands, while San Luis Obispo staff says, basically, ok, we’re not helpless, we can stop it HERE.

UPDATE: On Feb. 2, the City released a revised version of the procedures for signup, indicating that YOU MAY PHONE THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT AT 707-746-4280 IF IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO SIGN UP IN PERSON.  You may also sign up another person who is unable to sign up in person. 

This is SO discouraging.  It’s tempting to throw up our hands in defeat … but not yet.  We have two more opportunities to make our wishes known:

  1. PETITION – Over 1300 of you have already signed the Safe Benicia petition.  If you have not yet signed, please do so now.  Go to http://bit.ly/StopValeroOilTrains.  Add your personal comments or just push the button.

2. THE FINAL PLANNING COMMISSION HEARING (Commissioners will VOTE after all are heard!)

Where:   Benicia City Council Chambers | 250 East L St. Benicia
When:     Feb. 8, gather at 5:00pm, hearings start 6:30pm
RSVP:      bit.ly/SafeBenicia
PETITION:  Over 1300 of you have already signed the Safe Benicia petition.  If you have not yet signed, please do so now.  Go to bit.ly/StopValeroOilTrains.  Add your personal comments or just push the button.
AGENDA: click here
STAFF REPORT (with recommendation for APPROVAL): click here
Note also:  Additional meetings are scheduled to hear public comment on Tuesday, February 9, Wednesday, February 10, and Thursday, February 11, 2016. These meetings will be held only as needed. If all public comment is provided and the Planning Commission takes action, the agenda item will be closed and the additional meeting(s) will be cancelled.
IF YOU WISH TO COMMENT DURING THE HEARING: Due to the large amount of public interest with this project, the City will be instituting a sign up system in order to speak during the public hearings. Interested members of the public will be allowed to speak in order of sign up. Sign ups will be available on the day of the meeting(s) from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Community Development Department, 250 East L Street, Benicia. At the  hearing, please go to the sign up table just outside of the Council Chambers. Your name will be called in the order in which you signed up. You do not have to sign up in order to speak.  However, you will not be called on until those who have signed up have spoken. In order to accommodate the public, we have arranged for overflow rooms in City Hall with the hearing streaming for you to view and listen. You can also view the event live from the City’s website. http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={FD712CCF-B69D-4DE4-B704-CD9E825B3187}