A pair of new data releases help sketch a clearer picture of how oil trains move throughout the Northwest. By analyzing the data in the new reports alongside what we already know about the industry, we can better understand how the Northwest oil sector works. Federal data for the US West Coast show that nearly all … Read more
Northwest communities have been knocking down oil train development proposals as fast as they can spring up. In the last two years alone the region’s opposition movement has, by various means, spiked projects all around western Washington: once in Vancouver, once in Anacortes, and three times in Hoquiam. One big proposal is still under review … Read more
The Northwest public recently saw the second publication of quarterly oil train data for Washington. Although much about the industry is still not widely known, the Department of Ecology reports add considerably to our understanding of oil-by-rail in the region. By piecing together the figures in the new report with what we already know about … Read more
The deeply controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, also known as DAPL, got another boost last week after lawmakers claimed that the Secretary of the Army had ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to “proceed with the easement needed to complete [it].” The 470,000 barrel per day pipeline, which would connect North Dakota oil fields with Midwestern … Read more
Last week, the Washington Department of Ecology published its first quarterly report on oil transport in the state, including important new information on oil train shipments. Although the publication presents the data in a confusing manner that makes it difficult for the public to understand exactly how much oil is moving, and where, it nonetheless … Read more
When, at the close of 2015, Congress killed the United States’ 40-year ban on exporting domestic crude oil, many wondered if the change would impact the Northwest, where the fossil fuel industry has been ramping up oil, fracked fuel, and coal shipment projects. In Washington, some observers asked about the so-called “Magnuson Amendment” to the … Read more
Shipping crude oil by train is an extraordinarily dangerous enterprise. Notoriously prone to leaks and spills, recent history has shown that railcars can explode catastrophically when the fuel comes in contact with an ignition source. The damages can be profound. To make matters worse, the railroads that run the oil trains—and that are legally liable … Read more
In the first month of 2016, a pair of fledgling oil-by-rail projects abruptly collapsed in Oregon and Washington. One on the Columbia River, which had been operating since 2012, abruptly laid off more than half its workforce as it pivoted away from crude. The other, a proposal on the Pacific Coast that was still seeking … Read more
About a year-and-a-half ago, when Anna Sewell, a new lawyer for EarthJustice, moved across the country to Seattle from the heart of the Marcellus shale natural gas drilling hub in Pennsylvania, she expected to leave behind the local furor created by the huge numbers of new unconventional gas wells drilled in the area. Instead, as she … Read more
This Saturday, hundreds of Seattle area residents will gather to formally voice their opposition to a raft of oil, coal, and gas exports out of our Cascadian region. They will also learn more about opportunities to get involved in the work of what has been dubbed the Thin Green Line. Eric de Place will keynote the event, … Read more
