By Donna Beth Weilenman
Martinez News Gazette
Valero Crude-By-Rail proponents and opponents fill Benicia City Hall Tuesday to hear the City Council’s decision on the project. (Photo by Donna Beth Weilenman/Martinez News Gazette)
Benicia City Council has unanimously denied a use permit for the controversial Valero Crude-By-Rail project, citing a federal board decision as well as a June 3 derailment that spilled 42,000 gallons of crude oil and caused a fire that burned 14 hours.
But the matter didn’t end Tuesday with the vote. The Council has asked its legal staff to rephrase its findings in a document the panel will see for approval Oct. 4. Valero Benicia Refinery will have 30 days after that to decide how to proceed.
Valero had appealed to the Council a Feb. 11 Planning Commission decision to deny both an environmental report on the project as well as the use permit the refinery had sought.
After several meetings, several members of the Council said they needed answers to their questions, some posed by constituents, before they were ready to vote.
Meanwhile, Valero sought a declaratory order from the federal Surface Transportation Board, and the Council agreed to wait until Tuesday to give the Board time to respond.
At 2 p.m. Tuesday, city staff learned the federal board denied the refinery’s request and instead issued guidelines. While Benicia has little say in the governance of railroads, the board concluded the Planning Commission decision “does not attempt to regulate transportation by a ‘railroad carrier.’”
Because Valero isn’t a rail carrier and its employees, rather than those from UP, would be offloading the crude into the refinery, the board said the Planning Commission’s decision had not tried to regulate the railroad.
“If the offloading facility were eventually to be constructed but the EIR or land use permit or both, including mitigation conditions unreasonably interfering with UP’s future operations to the facility, any attempt to enforce such mitigation measures would be preempted,” the Board’s decision said.
Scott Lichtig, California’s deputy attorney general, expressed a similar opinion in his April 14 letter.
“Because the project applicant Valero is not a rail carrier and not acting pursuant to STB authorization, ICCTA (Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act) simply has no application to Valero and its proposed refinery upgrades,” he wrote.
Councilmember Christina Strawbridge, who said she had been doing her own “homework” about the matter and who had been carefully weighing both sides, said it was a derailment in late spring that made her reject the refinery’s application. Later, the other councilmembers joined her in voting against the refinery’s project.
The Council decision is the latest step in the project that proposed extending Union Pacific Railroad track into Valero Benicia Refinery land so than up to 70,000 barrels of oil could be brought in daily by train rather than by tanker ships.
The refinery, which produces about 10 percent of the gasoline consumed in California, originally applied for the use permit in late 2012. It not only proposed the rail extension, but also replacing and moving tank farm dikes and a concrete berm and moving underground infrastructure. The project also called for new roadwork.
A mitigated negative declaration was written and circulated between May 30 and July 30, 2013, but the city decided that document wasn’t thorough enough to meet California Environmental Quality Act requirements for such a project and ordered a draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) instead. That document was circulated between June 17 and Sept. 15, 2014.
After hearings and public comments, that report was revised and circulated Aug. 31 to Oct. 30, 2015, and a final environmental report was given public airing this year at Benicia Planning Commission meetings Feb. 8-11.
During that time, those who opposed the project citing environmental concerns staged protests, including walks to the five Bay Area refineries on both sides of the Carquinez Strait.
_ They argued that a derailment could damage Suisun Marsh, sensitive lands, such as Sulphur Springs Creek, the marshland between Benicia Industrial Park and the Carquinez Strat near Valero’s property and small and large towns next to tracks uprail from Benicia.
Detractors also insisted that the project would affect Benicia Industrial Park traffic, particularly on Park Road and ramps on Interstate-680.
They cited nearly two dozen train derailments, in particular the July 6, 2013, Lac-Megantic tragedy in which a runaway unattended Montreal, Maine and Atlantic (MMA) Railway train loaded with Bakken Formation sweet crude oil overturned in the small Quebec city. _
During the derailment, the fuel caught fire and exploded, killing 47 and destroying 30 buildings.
Union Pacific and Valero representatives stressed UP’s safety record. UP spokespersons said the railroad has stronger safety practices that, among other things, requires employees to remain with an idling train._ The refinery promised it would use improved, reinforced rail cars to carry its crude blend.
Refinery emergency personnel trained with Bernicia municipal emergency responders to learn about the rail cars’ configuration.
Supporters reminded the Council that Valero employs about 500, and backs community projects. In addition, its projects mean jobs, not only at the refinery but for contracted industrial workers.
They also worried that denial of the project might cause the company to close the refinery, which could harm Benicia’s economy. Valero sales and utility user taxes represents more than 20 percent of Benicia’s General Fund.
Train and refinery spokespersons kept reminding the Council that because railroad operations are part of interstate commerce, they are under federal regulation, not local control.
Then a train, traveling below the area’s speed limit, derailed June 3 near the Oregon-Washington border. Although the Union Pacific locomotive was pulling the improved oil cars, the accident spilled 42,000 gallons of crude rail and ignited a fire that lasted 14 days. That began raising new questions about the safety of the reinforced tank cars and Union Pacific’s track inspection methods.
Federal investigators said Union Pacific was to blame, since it didn’t find broken bolts along the track, although a UP spokesperson, Justin Jacobs, had said the railroad’s May 31 inspection had detected no broken or damaged bolts.
During the long consideration of the divisive issue, Councilmembers themselves found themselves under fire. In previous months, Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, who sent emails about her personal findings about related matters, had her “e-alerts” and her objectivity questioned.
Tuesday night, Councilmember Alan Schwartzman responded to a recent Benicia Herald letter from project opponent Andres Soto, who had suggested Schwartzman had taken Valero money for his campaign. Schwartzman denied the accusation and criticized Soto’s behavior at past meetings. ”It’s disrespectful,” he said.
Councilmember Mark Hughes supported Schwartzman, saying he, too, had had his integrity questioned.
“Show a reasonable level of respect,” he urged, adding that Benicians didn’t like that style of campaigning.
But in Tuesday’s vote, they were unanimous.
After Councilmember Tom Campbell moved to deny the use permit, Councilmember Christina Strawbridge described the depth of her own research of various sides of the issue. What finally led her to oppose the permit was the June derailment and fire in Oregon.
Saying others, including those voting on the Phillips 66 Santa Maria rail extension, were waiting to see how Benicia would vote, she said railroads and those regulating them weren’t addressing derailments.
“This is a safety issue,” she said, adding that she would vote to deny the use permit.
Schwartzman said the matter was complex, and he had wanted to make a decision that wouldn’t embroil the city in a lawsuit. While he appreciated Valero’s decision to use safer tanker cars, he said, he couldn’t ignore the Oregon derailment. “I can’t vote for the project.”
Hughes said he agreed with the Surface Transportation Board’s guidance that the city couldn’t address railroad operations. He observed there was no such thing as a perfectly safe project. He said risk management consisted of looking at the probability something bad would happen, then at the consequences resulting from that happenstance.
Given UP’s and Valero’s safety record, especially the refinery’s plant-wide culture of safety, Hughes suggested the chance of a catastrophe was low. However, the consequences of an incident made him uncomfortable.
“There is too much uncertainty for me,” he said. The recent derailment gave him a signal
“It was not something I could live with.”
Patterson said she, too, had made an extensive study of the matter, and said she was vilified when she tried to share her research._ She said she had concerns about who would pay for a disaster cleanup, and worried how it would affect the city’s small businesses.
“I could not certify a flawed EIR,” she said, suggesting the Council deny the appeal and approve its findings at a future meeting.
In addition, she asked city staff to urge state and federal regulators to improve the way they regulate rail safety.
“That’s exactly what I want to do,” Campbell said.
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We are fighting Brightline here on the Treasure Coast with FLorida NOT All Aboard……….CRIMINALS
When my gas price goes up, who is going to pay?
“Whenever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.”
—-Thomas Jefferson, January 8,1789.
More crude-by-rail news the community can use….
“Ruling by Little-Known Federal Agency Paves Way for Communities to Say No to Oil-by-Rail”
“The community of Benicia, [California,] in the crosshairs of history, made one of those decisions that will make a difference for the country. They stood up and said the safety of our communities matters.”
“That was Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor talking to The Sacramento Bee about the vote by the Benicia City Council to deny a new oil-by-rail facility that oil company Valero was seeking.”
(***This is an extremely important statement. Our city representatives (appointed and elected) have helped set precedent across the country. They did there homework. They showed a strength of character, will and vision not only against powerful corporate entities but against their own city staff…who acted like shills for the above corporations.
Some people talk about proven leadership …but real leaders stand up to adversity, name-calling and economic threats. Why because they know they are right, the evidence–the safety and health issues were overwhelming. They knew it before the STB came in with their decision That ruling was just an affirmation of their own sense of truth and justice.
The Elite Eight:
Planning Commission:
George Oakes, Sr.
Kai Birdseye
Terry Macenski
Don Dean
Elizabeth Radtke
Steve Young
City Council:
Mayor Elizabeth Patterson
Councilman, Dr.Tom Campbell
No matter what you may think, Patterson and Campbell have been the “rock solid pillars” of our community for over 20 years. Think about that just for a moment. Two decades of their lives dedicated to public service, to our “little city,” incredible! We as a community are very fortunate indeed to have such trusted, devoted public servants. Thank you .++++
Honorable Mention: Three years to make a decision? They finally got it right!
Mark Hughes
Alan Schwartzman
Christina Strawbridge
“But that vote would have been meaningless if not for a recent decision on September 20 by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) that gave Benicia the legal authority to have some say over what happens within its borders. ”
“Created in 1996, the STB is a federal agency which serves as “an independent adjudicatory and economic-regulatory agency charged by Congress with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers.”
“The STB decision helped clear up some of the gray areas around the issue of “pre-emption,” in which railroads are not subject to any local or state authorities or laws because local and state laws are “pre-empted” by federal law”
“But this latest decision about Benicia appears to deliver a real blow to oil companies when it comes to oil-by-rail transfer facilities. Since the companies who receive the oil from the rail cars aren’t railroads, the STB ruled that they are not protected by federal pre-emption. In the decision the STB refers to Valero as a “a noncarrier” which is why the STB ruled they are not able to claim pre-emption. ”
“This allowed Benicia to say no to an oil-by-rail facility in their community. And it has also changed the discussion about this industry as a whole.
Jackie Prange was one of the lawyers working on the Benicia case for the Natural Resources Defense Council and explained the potential impact of the STB decision to the San Francisco Chronicle. ”
“We’re pleased with the decision and the implications it will have across the country,” said Prange. “This issue is live in a number of sites across the country. This is definitely a decision that I think cities in other states will be looking to.”
http://www.desmogblog.com/2016/09/28/ruling-little-known-federal-agency-paves-way-communities-say-no-oil-trains
Stop it Willy .. You are back to your old tricks. Your OP ED 9-29-16 tells the whole story. What donors are you going to call now. Mayor Patterson donors from Davis who gave to the mayors attorney fees site. Willy now tell the residents why you were not on the Forum page for five years.
I* would call you Willie Stark but Willy you are no Willie Stark. Not even Willie Sutton..
I have only two comments. First on the Honorable Mention list. I never, ever heard any of these candidates say they were in favor of CBR. All I heard them say was that they wanted the information from the STB. I love it when everyone wants an informed voter unless getting that information delays what you want. The ONLY way to proceed in this case would have been to get the STB ruling BEFORE making an informed decision.
The second point is that since the STB said “Since the companies who receive the oil from the rail cars aren’t railroads, the STB ruled that they are not protected by federal pre-emption. In the decision the STB refers to Valero as a “a noncarrier” which is why the STB ruled they are not able to claim pre-emption. ” Anyone care to guess how long until an oil company merges with a rail company???
Outstanding comment.,
Beyond the crude-by -rail discussion
Should climate change be a campaign issue/topic–remembering that we are presently in the fifth year of drought in California. Month after month of record heat. California presently has 39 million residents with projections for over 50 million by 2046.
More important science news and information with a video clip with the founder of 350.org–Bill McKibben, for our citizenry and our appointed and elected officials to consider…
“Forget Paris, Scientists Say ‘Radical Change’ Only Way to Stay Below 2 Degrees”
“Study by former IPCC chair comes amid rash of new research, all predicting the Earth will soon blow by key global warming thresholds”
“Further, the researchers minced no words when laying the blame for the missed targets on “political and sectoral interests,” including those “benefiting from the use of fossil fuels,” for promoting “deliberate misinformation” about the current situation.”
“Much like the landmark report published last week by fossil fuel watchdog Oil Change International, the latest findings leave no room for future emissions or new fossil fuel infrastructure projects. Even as the commitments stand, scientists predict that U.S. will miss its target for 2025 if “fundamental changes” are not made.”
“In the past week, two separate reports have warned that the planet will likely pass the 1.5ºC benchmark this decade and, under current emissions projections, is “locked in” to reaching a 2 million-year temperature record.”
“With 2016 on track to set another heat record, the wave of research comes as the planet reached another grave milestone: atmospheric carbon has permanently surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm).”
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/09/30/forget-paris-scientists-say-radical-change-only-way-stay-below-2-degrees
“Whenever the people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.”
—-Thomas Jefferson, January 8,1789.
More crude-by-rail news the community can use….
“Ruling by Little-Known Federal Agency Paves Way for Communities to Say No to Oil-by-Rail”
“The community of Benicia, [California,] in the crosshairs of history, made one of those decisions that will make a difference for the country. They stood up and said the safety of our communities matters.”
“That was Yolo County Supervisor Don Saylor talking to The Sacramento Bee about the vote by the Benicia City Council to deny a new oil-by-rail facility that oil company Valero was seeking.”
(***This is an extremely important statement. Our city representatives (appointed and elected) have helped set precedent across the country. They did there homework. They showed a strength of character, will and vision not only against powerful corporate entities but against their own city staff…who acted like shills for the above corporations.
Some people talk about proven leadership …but real leaders stand up to adversity, name-calling and economic threats. Why because they know they are right, the evidence–the safety and health issues were overwhelming. They knew it before the STB came in with their decision That ruling was just an affirmation of their own sense of truth and justice.
The Elite Eight:
Planning Commission:
George Oakes, Sr.
Kai Birdseye
Terry Macenski
Don Dean
Elizabeth Radtke
Steve Young
City Council:
Mayor Elizabeth Patterson
Councilman, Dr.Tom Campbell
No matter what you may think, Patterson and Campbell have been the “rock solid pillars” of our community for over 20 years. Think about that just for a moment. Two decades of their lives dedicated to public service, to our “little city,” incredible! We as a community are very fortunate indeed to have such trusted, devoted public servants. Thank you .++++
The Elite Eight historic decision’s has been vindicated by other communities in California and now the state of Washington
Now that’s proof positive of real leadership and experience you can trust!!
“Dirty and Deadly Oil Train Projects Meet Defeat in California and Washington”
‘The American people have spoken: They do not want dirty and dangerous fossil fuel projects that will threaten their communities, their clean air and water, and the climate’
“In what environmentalists described as a “historic victory,” two separate proposed oil train facilities in Washington and California were roundly defeated this week.”
“A few years ago, oil trains were the industry’s back-door approach to getting crude oil to the market. Today, communities and decision makers along the West Coast are slamming that door shut.”
—”Matt Krogh, StandThe San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission on Wednesday voted 3-2 to reject a Phillips 66 oil train project, an outcome that was met by a standing ovation.”
“Here’s one for the people,” said Martin Akel, a member of Mesa Refinery Watch, a group that opposes the rail-spur project, according to local newspaper The Tribune. “The commissioners got it finally. We finally beat back a major business institution that only had its self-interests in mind, not the people.”
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/10/07/dirty-and-deadly-oil-train-projects-meet-defeat-california-and-washington
Went to the League of Women Voters candidates forum last night 9-29-16. They did an outstanding job. But there was and always is a spoiler. That spoiler was council candidate Steve Young. He could not resist taking a swipe at council and mayor candidates that did vote to deny Valero their permit. Stating it was election time and their decision was politically motivated. He was wrong. Then went on to say he did in fact speak one night for three hours and the next night for one hour. He went on to0 say that some that are at the candidates forum were critical of his grandstanding. He was the only candidate that took the opportunity to be very critical of his/her opponents and in particular Councilmember Strawbridge without naming her. Also at the same time was critical of Mayor candidate Marc Hughes with those same comments. Steve Young supports Mayor Patterson. Is this the type of below the belt candidate in this type of forum the residents of Benicia want for a council seat. I sure hope not. His four years resicency does not stack up to the time and effort that Mark Hughes and Christiana Strawbridge put into this very fine city. I sure hope the voters saw the real Steve Young. An agenda driven candidate that has no guilt in publicly insulting two very fine people.
If Will did read the recently released campaign reports, he would find It is not as he says. Pick and choose Will. Still waiting for an answer from Will on why he was not on the Forum Page for five years. Just how many donors are you going to call this time.. I would call Will are “Local Election Reporter” but he is only a biased man with some time on his hands. Just trying to find dirt on candidates he opposes. Nothing wrong with that except his tactics are very below the belt.. Will is not original. He just reads, copy and paste other info. Not at all his own thoughts or ideas. Will you are a very shallow man. with what appears to be very low self esteem.
I find it odd that there is no mention on this site about Valero having to pay a penalty for violations that include illegally disposing of benzene into an unlined storm water retention pond. Anyone that knows about fuel product contamination, knows that the carcinogenic VOCs benzene is typically a driver is soil and groundwater clean-up goals. Benzene also typically migrates through the substrate readily. Details about the release, the impacts and the clean up should be made available. This incident is certainly not inline with the often touted great safety record at Valero. The incident itself seems the result of a very poor exercise in judgement.