Submit your comment: Stop North America’s largest oil train terminal

Thousands of people are joining together to oppose the construction of North America’s largest oil train terminal in Vancouver, Washington. The opposition to the staggering 360,000 barrel per day project is overwhelming. Opponents include Columbia River tribes, local longshoremen, firefighters, business leaders, anglers, health professionals, climate activists, city governments and a clear majority of the local community

Will you add your voice to theirs with a comment to the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council and Governor Inslee?

This project would mean dangerous oil trains carrying explosive crude oil through communities across the West and oil tankers transporting oil down the Columbia River, threatening our air, water, health, and climate. The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) could be a lot better, but it tells us enough to know that this project is a bad idea. The DEIS describes the significant and unavoidable impacts that this terminal and its dangerous oil trains and oil tankers would cause including an oil train derailment is expected once every two years risks of oil spills into the Columbia River, public health concerns, and the massive carbon pollution that this terminal would cause.

Governor Inslee will make a yes or no decision on the Tesoro-Savage terminal. And he needs to hear from you.

We can stop this – send in comments today.

The harms and risks to our water, air, and health are simply too great - submit a comment today opposing this terminal!



Officials always pay more attention when you write a personalized comment. Please edit the draft comment before you send it in. Feel free to copy any of these specific concerns about the project:

  • While Tesoro was telling the community that the oil is planned for domestic use, big oil was busy lobbying Congress to repeal the oil export ban. They got their way, and now if this is built, they may use the Columbia River as a highway to ship oil from North Dakota to Asia.
  • The Tesoro Savage oil train terminal would be the largest such facility in North America. They plan to move 360,000 barrels of oil per day, or the equivalent of five full oil trains. That’s two barrels of crude oil per day per resident of Vancouver.
  • The project is opposed by Columbia River tribes, local longshoremen, firefighters, business leaders, anglers, health professionals, climate activists, neighborhood associations, faith leaders, the City of Spokane, the City of Portland, the City of Vancouver, and a clear majority of the local community.
  • Former BNSF insiders-turned consultants worked on a section of the draft Environmental Impact Statement. They clearly understated the risk of oil train derailments by ignoring the disaster that happened in Lac Megantic, Quebec in 2013.
  • The EIS does not consider the risk of oil trains outside of Washington state, and every train to Vancouver, WA passes through Idaho and Montana and North Dakota.


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