Events 2015

[eridani]

11. SHELL BAKKEN OIL RAIL TERMINAL PROJECT 1/28 & 1/29 in Mt Vernon

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SHELL BAKKEN OIL RAIL TERMINAL PROJECT

SHELL AND APPELLANT HEARING, WED., JAN. 28, 2015
SHELL PUBLIC HEARING, THURS., JAN. 29, 2015

SHELL AND APPELLANT HEARING
Appeal Hearing Concerning Skagit County’s Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance
(The public is invited to observe and will give no testimony.)
Wed., Jan. 28, 9 a.m.
County Commissioners Hearing Room
1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon

Shell Oil and Appellant legal representatives will testify before Wick Dufford, Skagit County Hearing Examiner.

Skagit County favored Shell Oil’s proposed Bakken oil rail terminal by determining the terminal's impact upon the Padilla Bay Estuarine shoreline as a Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance (MDNS)—meaning that impacts are reduced by changes/conditions to a nonsignificant level.
Appellant members RE Sources for Sustainable Communities, Friends of the San Juans, ForestEthics, the Washington Environmental Council, Friends of the Earth and Evergreen Islands filed an appeal, challenging Skagit County’s issuance of the MDNS. A factor is that a portion of the proposed Bakken oil rail terminal would be located within shoreline jurisdiction associated with Padilla Bay. See Appealing Crude-by-Rail Decision in Skagit County.


SHELL PUBLIC HEARING
(Testimony from the public is sought.)
Thurs., Jan. 29 (Please see times below.)
County Commissioners Hearing Room
1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon (map)

The hearing process will consist of five parts: 1) Skagit County Planning & Development gives its case. 2) Shell Oil gives its case. 3) The public gives testimony—and may direct questions to the hearing examiner for his consideration. 4) The Hearing Examiner asks questions of Skagit County and Shell oil. 5) Shell Oil and Skagit County give rebuttals.

The hearing process begins at 9 a.m.
Although public testimony begins at 11 a.m., you are advised to arrive no later than 10 a.m. to sign up for oral testimony. First come, first served.
Hand in written comments at the public hearing or send them beforehand to Skagit County Planning & Development, arriving in-house no later than 4:30 p.m., Tues. Jan. 27.
No emails accepted. The online comment form and snail mail address are found at How to Comment on Permit Applications and Appeals. Scroll down. The permit number is PL13-0468. The title is Shoreline Substantial Development Permit/Variance.


What comments/testimony may you make to Wick Dufford, the Hearing Examiner? Tell/write him that you want an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Not enough information has been provided to determine the full impact of Shell’s proposed Bakken oil rail terminal. An EIS determines that a proposal is likely to have significant adverse environmental impacts. An EIS provides an impartial discussion of significant environmental impacts, reasonable alternatives and mitigation measures that would avoid or minimize adverse impacts. On Jan. 16, 2015, Wick Dufford, Skagit County Hearing Examiner, determined that impact considerations are not limited to any particular limited geographic area. See County Hearing Examiner to Take Comments on Shell Rail Project. Skagit County last determined an EIS in 1999. !!

Suggested areas of application/concern:

Cumulative impacts of Shell’s proposed rail terminal with other oil-by-rail and coal export facilities in Puget Sound.

Trains Boot Washington Fruit Crops to Carry More Coal, Oil
Oil Trains Crowd Out Grain Shipments to NW Ports
Opening the spigot: Why Washington could become a major global fuel supplier, Sept. 6, 2013, updated Sept. 11, 2013.

Risks of derailment and explosion, oil spills along the rail line and into saltwater/freshwater, impacting the Anacortes water treatment plant, saltwater/freshwater species and the aquatic environment—who pays for the destruction?

Tank Car Fleet Inadequate for Crude Oil, Rail Industry Says
Study of Oil from Deadly Derailment Points to Bakken Crude’s Volatility; More Research is On the Way
DOT: Rail Insurance Inadequate for Oil Train Accidents

Risks to human health from air toxics released during oil transport, transfer and storage.

Bakken Crude Oil Volatile Organic Compounds

Shell Refinery No 2 in NW Clean-Air Fines, Nov. 7, 2011
Anacortes Refineries Pay, Accrue Fines in November [2014]
Shell Puget Sound Refinery, Anacortes, Washington, was fined $291,000 from 2006 to 2010 for violations of the Clean Air Act making it the second most-fined violator in the Pacific Northwest. As of 2011, it was listed as "high priority violator" since 2008.[11][12]

Harm to safety, recreation and surrounding environmental beauty.

March Point Heronry Property: Herons have nested on Padilla Bay since the late 1970s. Today it's believed to be the largest nesting area for Great Blue Herons in all of Western North America, with recent estimates ranging from 600-700 nests. (Washington Department of Ecology, May 9, 2014)
Oil Train Blast Zone, including along Highway 5—impacting Mount Vernon, Burlington, Sedro-Woolley—and along Highway 20 Spur to Anacortes.
SHELL OIL, A Record of Environmental and Corporate Malfeasance, June 2012, Alaska Wilderness League (will take a few moments to download).

Risks of oil transport first by rail and marine vessel, including risks to commercial, recreational and fishing activities; risks of oil spills in the Salish Sea.

Voices Against Oil Trains
Degassing North Dakota Crude Oil Before shipping Amid Safety Suggestions
Towns Demand Ban on Single-Hulled Oil Tank Cars
Groups Bring New Legal Action for Federal Ban of Dangerous Oil Tank Rail Cars

Old railway bridge infrastructure.

RustyBridges_LarryGraf
This folder is accessed on the Microsoft “cloud” and contains pictures of Skagit and Snohomish rusty bridges, complementary of Larry Graf, Burlington. The pictures will take a few moments to download. All oil trains pass over the Swinomish Channel Bridge, built in 1891, to reach Tesoro and Shell Oil refineries.
Appealing Crude-by-Rail Decision in Skagit County
Trains Plus Crude Equals More Trouble Down the Tracks

This areas of concern are meant as a suggested guide.

Thank you so much for your patience.
Evergreen Islands