Thread by @breachcollectiv

Yesterday, OR Rep. @KhanhPhamForOR took to the House floor to call for action to protect residents & the environment from the dangers posed by dangerous fossil fuel transport & storage, like Zenith's oil trains.

Video here:

Full remarks below 👇

#orpol

"This week, Joint Transportation wrapped up its rail week discussing potential investments in rail infrastructure, which was exciting.

However, nationally, discussions around trains have been about the devastation of mixing train derailment and toxic chemicals.

We’ve seen the shocking scenes of the train derailment and explosion in East Palestine, Ohio, which released poisonous substances into the surrounding community. We’ve seen what a magnitude 7.8 earthquake did in Turkey and Syria to kill more than 50,000 people.

The predicted “Big One” here in Oregon could be *ten times* as powerful.

[seismic risk report here: multco.us/sustainability…]

State and local governments have studied the dangers of oil trains through Portland and hazardous fuel storage at the Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub, where 90% of all liquid fuels in Oregon are stored in NW Portland, sited on an earthquake liquefaction zone.

The findings are terrifying. They predict a Fukushima scale petrochemical disaster on the Willamette River that would cause enormous harm to Portland’s residents and destroy our rivers for generations.

Oregon’s state and local leaders currently have the power to help minimize these risks, and we aren’t doing enough to ensure that our communities are safe from catastrophic industrial disaster.

Industrial interests have strongly opposed reasonable health & safety protections. Oregon residents are calling for government interventions to protect the public from fossil and chemical industry disasters.

In 2021, the @multco opposed Zenith’s energy train terminal Land Use Compatibility application, and 46 neighborhood organizations submitted a letter, writing:

“Zenith Energy’s transport of oil-by-rail poses immense risks to the community and the environment, from emissions, accidents, potential spills, fires, and explosions”

The City of Portland has turned its back on community safety, allowing Zenith’s crude oil trains to threaten Portland residents for at least another five years.

On February 22, the Oregonian reported that despite Zenith’s promises to phase out crude oil, Zenith has again increased their oil by rail throughput volume, putting residents at risk of increasingly dangerous events resulting from train derailments or seismic events.

We need bigger structural changes that actually reduce the chances of these very foreseeable industrial disasters. Oregon must act."