Screenshot from KGW news report about Mosier derailment and fire.
Worst Fears Realized for Mosier Residents With Train Wreck
June 4, 2016
June 4, 2016 From KGW: MOSIER, Ore. — Angry fireballs of exploding Bakken crude oil burned alongside the town of Mosier Friday. The derailment happened at 12:20 p.m. Sixteen cars went off the tracks, and several caught fire. A few blocks away, MaryLou Perry watched from her home. “We were at Level 2 evacuation. I […]
Smoke from a derailed oil tanker rises over the Columbia River near Mosier, OR, on June 3, 2016. (photo: KGW-TV)
As Mosier Oil Train Derailment Unfolds, Union Pacific Works to Expand Oil Transport
June 3, 2016
June 3, 2016 For Immediate Release June 3, 2016Contact: Michael Lang, Conservation Director, Friends of the Columbia Gorge 503-490-3979Arlene Burns, Mayor of Mosier, OR 541-399-6780 This morning, an oil train derailment occurred in the town of Mosier in the heart of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, a derailment that continues to threaten the […]
How Lummi Nation’s Treaty Stand Beat Big Coal
May 17, 2016
May 17, 2016 Bellingham, WA-based writer Ralph Schwartz, in a guest piece for the Sightline Institute, gives a stirring account of how Lummi Nation stood up against Big Coal to defend their treaty fishing rights–and won. “This is a really good day,” said an emotional Cheryl Sanders, who met in special session with other tribal […]
Many members of the Lummi Indian tribe fish near the site of the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal in Washington State. (Lummi Nation photo)
U.S. Denies Permit for Coal Terminal in Washington State
May 11, 2016
May 11, 2016 The New York Times reports on the denial of a needed permit by the U.S. Army Corpos of Engineers for the $665 million Gateway Pacific Terminal, which would have placed the U.S.’s largest coal terminal in the Pacific Northwest and resulted in an additional 48 million tons of coal being shipped by rail through […]
Senate Approves Bill to Study Oil Train Derailment Training
May 10, 2016
May 10, 2016 The Hill reports that the U.S. Senate has approved legisation brought by North Dakota Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp to increase training efforts for first responders to rail car accidents. Oil by rail safety has been a major issue for lawmakers and regulators. Read the article. Safety concerns are a big reason why Friends opposes […]
Coal train (photographer: Bunny & Norm Lenburg)
Coal Trains Mean Coal Dust – Period
May 4, 2016
May 4, 2016 Eric de Place of the non-profit think tank Sightline Institute, as part of the series A Crackdown on Coal, explores the dangers of coal dust to communities along rail lines, explains why shippers won’t avoid the problem by simply covering coal cars, and recaps the peer-reviewed study conducted in 2013-14 in the Columbia Gorge […]
Developer Abandons Controversial Troutdale Energy Project
January 26, 2016
January 26, 2016 Troutdale Energy Center, LLC (TEC), a subsidiary of Ares Management, L.P., has abandoned its plans for the controversial Troutdale Energy Center, a 701-megawatt gas power plant that was proposed at a site sandwiched between the Troutdale Airport and the mouth of the Sandy River, which serves as the western boundary of the Columbia […]