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We have a dangerous problem that we don't take seriously enough in Portland: corporations transport fossil fuels and hazardous materials on seismically unstable land.
The largest site is the Critical Energy Hub, located along six miles of the Willamette River. At the Critical Energy Hub, fossil fuel corporations (like Zenith Energy) can store millions of gallons of fuel and hazardous materials in tanks -- many of which were built before earthquake safety requirements were established.
According to an ECO Northwest study, if there is a major earthquake, tank failures, explosions, and fires could result in the release of nearly 200 million gallons of fuel into the Willamette River, air, and ground. A Willamette River spill would be on the same scale as the Deepwater Horizon spill, the largest oil spill to date in United States waters.
More than 40,000 Portlanders are at risk of injury and death.
There’s more... Zenith Energy transports crude oil to Portland by rail, and puts tens of thousands of Portlanders, many of whom live in District 2 (N/NE Portland), at risk if their oil trains derail or explode. Many of the people in the blast zone are people of color due to discriminatory housing practices.
The thing that scares me most is that we don’t have adequate emergency plans in place, and we continue to permit projects. What’s more, there’s no burden on these corporations to provide significant risk mitigation.
I plan to proudly use my time in Portland's city council to stand up when fossil fuel corporations, like Zenith Energy, try to gaslight us into thinking that these dangers are not imminent or serious threats.