September 12, 2014
Media Contacts:
Kristen Boyles, Earthjustice: kboyles@earthjustice.org /
(206) 343-7340 x 1033
Tom Glade, Evergreen Islands: tom.glade@frontier.com /
(360) 202-1901
Crina Hoyer, RE Sources for Sustainable
Community: crinah@re-sources.org /
(360) 733-8307
Local and State Groups
File Appeal on Shell Oil Transport Decision
Concerned citizens appeal Skagit
County decision to move forward without full
environmental review.
Mount Vernon, WA—Six state and local
conservation groups, including RE Sources for
Sustainable Communities, FRIENDS of the San Juans,
ForestEthics, Washington Environmental Council, Friends
of the Earth and Evergreen Islands, represented by
Earthjustice, filed an appeal yesterday of Skagit
County’s decision to allow a proposed Shell Puget Sound
Refinery crude-by-rail facility to move forward without
requiring a full and transparent environmental review.
Shell has proposed a facility that would
receive one unit train of crude oil per day, with each
unit train consisting of four locomotives and
approximately 102 crude oil tank cars. Nearby
refineries have built similar facilities; however, those
refineries began their projects before an ongoing chain
of oil train explosions revealed the extreme volatility
of the Bakken crude. The July 6, 2013 oil train
explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, one of the first
disasters in the chain, killed 47 people and destroyed
roughly half of the Lac-Megantic’s downtown.
“Before we allow more oil trains, we
better make sure they pose no threat to our
communities,” said Tom Glade of Evergreen Islands.
“Shell’s plans, especially coming after all the
derailments and accidents that we’ve already seen, must
undergo a thorough and public analysis to ensure our
safety.”
In Skagit County, the oil trains pass
right through the downtowns of Burlington, Conway and
Mount Vernon. The oil trains also cross the old
Burlington/Mount Vernon bridge spanning the Skagit River
immediately above the Anacortes Water Treatment Plant
and the old swing bridge spanning the Swinomish Channel
directly adjacent to the Padilla Bay National Estuarine
Research Reserve.
Extensive crude-by-rail oil transport
systems have increased dramatically in recent years.
In 2008, only 9,500 tank cars transported crude
nationally, as compared to over 400,000 tank cars in
2013, an increase of over 4000%.
These conservation groups are filing this
appeal because of significant risks and impacts to
people, water, and wildlife and are demanding a full
environmental review. They are also demanding that Shell
be prevented from using any rail facility as a way to
ship crude over marine waters.
“Without prohibitions on the export of
crude oil from the Shell Refinery,” said Fred Felleman,
Northwest consultant for Friends of the Earth,
“Increased train traffic will also result in increased
tanker traffic and oil spills. This risk to Puget Sound
is simply too great.”
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Earthjustice: http://earthjustice.org/
Evergreen Islands: http://www.evergreenislands.org/
Forest Ethics: http://forestethics.org/
FRIENDS of the San Juans: http://www.sanjuans.org/
Friends of the Earth: http://www.foe.org/
Re Sources for Sustainable Community: http://www.re-sources.org/
Washington Environmental Council: http://wecprotects.org/
