Members of Benicians for a Safe and Healthy Community gathered at the corner of Military and East 2nd Street Tuesday to raise awareness of risks from crude oil transport by rail, in response to the weekend derailment and explosion along the Columbia River in Oregon. (Photo by Elizabeth Warnimont)

At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Benicia City Council heard from the public regarding Valero Benicia Refinery’s Crude-By-Rail Project and further advised city staff regarding proposed changes to water and wastewater treatment billing, among other items.
The Council also took a few minutes to acknowledge and offer a formal farewell to City Manager Brad Kilger, whose last day will be this Friday. Kilger has accepted a position as city manager for Martinez and will begin his new job later this month.
Councilmember Tom Campbell well summed up the councilmembers’ sentiments when he stated, tongue-in-cheek, “I was a no vote,” followed by the concession that “I was so wrong.”
Campbell went on to express that Kilger was “an extraordinarily good city manager and an extraordinarily even better individual.”
Mayor Elizabeth Patterson presented Kilger with a plaque on behalf of the city in appreciation of his six years of service.
During the public comment period for items not on the evening’s agenda, several residents addressed the Council regarding the recent rail accident in Mosier, Ore. and its relevance to Valero’s currently proposed crude by rail project. Residents urged the council to deny certification of the project’s environmental impact report and to deny Valero’s use permit in light of the new information resulting from the accident. Residents repeatedly expressed sentiments that the council now had all the information it needed in order to make that decision.
The Oregon disaster underscored the relative futility of using special foam to extinguish an oil fire, for example, since it cannot be used until after the flames are out – useful only for cooling and extinguishing the subsequent hot spots – or of the trains traveling at slow speeds or on non-curved track. All of the potential remedies stated by Valero regarding emergency response to a derailment and fire were reportedly exercised in the Oregon incident and still, several oil-filled cars had to be allowed to burn themselves out. The only measure that had any effect before those flames were extinguished was the use of an estimated 150,000 gallons of water per minute from the Columbia River to cool the adjacent cars, in order to prevent them from reaching a flash point temperature and igniting themselves.
The Oregon accident also revealed that rail inspections are no guarantee of safety. Investigators made an initial determination that the derailment there was due to a loose rail tie fastener, despite the fact that the suspect segment of rail had been inspected just three days prior to the accident.
However, the city of Benicia is precluded from making a decision on the project before September, since the council already voted at a previous meeting to grant Valero a continuance in order to allow them time to obtain a formal opinion from the Surface Transportation Board. The council will take up the issue of any further continuance at a September meeting. According to City Attorney Heather McLaughlin, the city may then choose to either approve or deny any requests by the applicant for further continuance.
Another common concern among the speakers Tuesday was the selection of legal representation for Benicia regarding Valero’s proposed crude-by-rail project. It was repeatedly asserted that the most recently hired counsel did not have the appropriate experience to represent the city in the matter, and that the city needed to find an attorney with more relevant experience. Staff expressed agreement to that sentiment and directed McLaughlin to select a new attorney with considerable Constitution and land use background and experience.

Water and sewer

The Council heard from Finance Director Karin Schnaider regarding a revision to the notice to residents regarding proposed water and wastewater treatment costs, projected budget and rate structure. The council found that while the presented draft came much closer to the goal of conveying the proposed changes in an easy-to-understand manner, there were still some portions that needed to be further clarified. Staff agreed to make further changes, while reminding the council that the department strives to strike a balance between providing all the detailed information required by law to be disclosed and presenting that information in a reader-friendly format.
Regarding some of the negative responses from residents to the initial notification letter, Mayor Patterson suggested that the new notice include some information about similar cities, in order to provide a useful frame of reference regarding costs and billing.
For a copy of the agenda for this or any city council meeting, visit the city of Benicia website at ci.benicia.ca.us, visit the offices at 250 East L St., or call 746-4216. Copies of official minutes from past meetings are also available, generally a few weeks after the date of the meeting.

Sharing is caring!