It began with a compelling presentation at BWNA’s July 2021 Zoom meeting by Greg Bourget, principal researcher for nonprofit Portland Clean Air. Then Jenny Holmes, staff member at their partner environmental organization, Cascadia Action, requested that BWNA, along with other neighborhood associations, endorse a letter to the Portland Bureau of Development Services (BDS) in support of the Linnton Neighborhood Association’s opposition to Zenith Energy Company’s application for permits to quadruple the company’s petroleum terminal capacity at Linnton docks in NW Portland, resulting in an increase of oil trains transiting through the city. On short notice, the BWNA board did its due diligence—reviewing the letter, researching the topic, and exchanging points of views—before voting unanimously to ally itself with Linnton on the controversy.
The history of the issue begins in 2014, when Zenith Energy first applied to BDS for a “Certificate of Occupancy” for its terminal, which was approved. The company later got approval from the BDS to expand the facility, determining that the expansion is permissible under Portland’s comprehensive plan. In 2016 the Portland City Council voted to oppose new fossil facilities within the city, but that did not bar Zenith’s expansion, and construction continuing unabated. Columbia Riverkeeper and other environmental groups then filed a lawsuit to stop Zenith from transporting fossil fuels into Portland. (According to The Oregonian, ”… as recently as 2019, the company allowed millions of gallons of Canadian tar sands crude oil to be transported through and stored in Portland.”)
BWNA joined a group of 15 neighborhood associations along with two dozen other civic organizations to urge the City Council to deny Zenith a Land Use Compatibility Statement, which is necessary for the company to complete its plans to offload more oil from their trains in the vicinity of the Linnton neighborhood. Additionally, Linnton Neighborhood Association argued that Zenith’s oil-by-rail violates Portland’s Climate Action Plan and urged both the Portland City Council and Multnomah County Commission “to pursue protective policies that hold fossil fuel companies financially accountable for their pollution and other damage to Portland and surrounding waterways.” Additionally, the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management expressed concern about the danger posed to the community and waterways by the terminal in the event of a future major Cascadia earthquake (aka “The Big One”).
Zenith public relations representative Megan Mastal countered that “the multi-million-dollar project is a significant economic stimulus for the area, providing an even safer and more efficient operation, including new emissions-control technology, which is required by regulation, as well as a state-of-the-art fire suppression system and barrier along the street” (the safety upgrades confirmed by BDS). Mastal also made the point that the 18 full-time on-site workers are “trained and certified to maintain the highest environmental and operational standards.”
Weighing the arguments on both sides, the BWNA board concluded that the risks outweighed the benefits, and in late August 2021 the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality agreed, imposing a $23,598 penalty on the company contending that the unsanctioned activity at the property posed a risk of discharging harmful sediment into the Willamette River. Houston-based Zenith then appealed to an Oregon state administrative court to contest the fine.
On the local level, the Portland BDS declined to issue the necessary land use compatibility statement to Zenith, claiming that storing and unloading fossil fuels at the site are incompatible with the city’s climate and resiliency goals, despite company plans to gradually transition to 50 percent renewable fuels by 2026. Portland BDS Director Rebecca Esau explained that “while some of the changes at the site include a move toward bio-fuels and needed safety measures, the extent of the fossil fuel activity and potential adverse impact on the environment … are not compatible with Portland’s 2035 Comprehensive Plan.” Regarding a building permit application by Zenith for permission to install rail infrastructure, Esau clarified that the permit would be exclusively limited to non-fossil fuel uses.