Other Crude Oil Transport Projects

Update, Status of Projects: April 2016

Grays Harbor, WA: There are three terminals proposed for development or expansion near Hoquiam, WA. They would result in a combined 17 more oil trains moving through the Gorge every week.

●The Imperium terminal was bought by Renewable Energy Group (REG) last summer. REG has announced it will no longer be pursuing permits to handle crude oil at the facility, instead to only continue handling biodiesel, petroleum diesel, vegetable oil and methanol, but there is nothing that legally binds this commitment yet.
●The Westway terminal went through its DEIS process and hearing last fall, the same time as Imperium. The comment period closed on November 30, 2015. No further action or development has yet happened with that terminal.
●The third terminal, “Grays Harbor Rail Terminal,” has not progressed beyond the scoping stage.
 
Port Westward, OR: In January, Global Partners laid off 8% of its work force and aims to handle only ethanol, not crude, at its rail terminal in Oregon in response to the nearly 70% plunge in oil prices since mid-2014. Before January, the terminal had received all necessary regulatory approval and was exporting crude oil. Global Partners accomplished this by manipulating loopholes in the regulatory system to get adjustments for an existing biofuel facility instead of going through a more in-depth and full permit review with public input that a new facility would have required. They also acquired approval and funding to expand the dock near their facility to increase their export capabilities and receive larger ships. That project is slated to be finished in the third quarter this year. Global Partners could elect to again handle crude oil should market conditions improve.
 
Longview, WA: Waterside Energy (also called Riverside Refining), which is the same people behind the failed TransMessis Columbia Plateau biofuels plant in Odessa, WA, are seeking permits for a new oil refinery and propane terminal in Longview, WA. After being abandoned in 2014, the Odessa plant required more than $400,000 worth of environmental cleanup. The EPA estimates final cleanup costs will be around $580,000. There has not been a public hearing or comment period scheduled yet for the Waterside refinery proposal. (THIS NEEDS TO BE UPDATED - THERE'S A HEARING SCHEDULED IN MAY. -SH)
 
Anacortes, WA: There are two facilities planned for development or expansion in Anacortes. The first is an existing terminal owned by Tesoro (the same company behind the Vancouver proposal) and is currently capable of refining 120,000 barrels of oil per day. They have completed a rail improvement project enabling it to receive 5 trains a week and operate as an oil transloading terminal. The proposed Shell terminal would be located at an existing Shell refinery, the second largest oil refinery in the Northwest. It would be able to handle 6 trains a week, but a Skagit County hearing examiner ruled in February of 2015 that this project needed to undergo a full environmental impact study. That study is expected to be released this year.
 

Background of Projects

An oil train travels over Drano Lake in the eastern Columbia Gorge, heading for an existing Northwest oil terminal. (photographer: Joe Urmos)

While Tesoro's so-called Vancouver Energy proposal is by far the biggest of the Northwest oil-by-rail projects, numerous smaller oil terminals are either proposed or already operating. Even leaving the Tesoro proposal out of the equation, if all of these projects come online the Columbia River Gorge would see an additional 30 mile-long trains each week, the explosive cargo of Bakken crude posing a disastrous threat to the Columbia River and communities along the rail route.


Seven new oil terminals are proposed to join eight already authorized to handle crude. (Map created by Sightline Institute)
 

Proposed Projects

 

Shell’s refinery in Anacortes, WA. A proposal to add capacity to the facility would result in an additional 60,000 barrels of explosive Bakken crude oil a day, all of which would travel through the Columbia Gorge. (Photo: Walter Siegmund/Wikipedia Commons)
 

Vancouver, WA

Project Name: Vancouver Energy (read details of project)
Developer: Tesoro Savage
Operating capacity: 360,000 barrels per day – 36 trains a week.
 
Project Name: NuStar terminal
Developer: NuStar Energy
Operating capacity: 22,000 barrels per day – 2.2 trains a week.
 
Longview, WA
 
Project Name: Riverside terminal
Developer: Waterside, Inc.
Operating capacity: 30,000 barrels per day – 3 trains a week.
 
Grays Harbor, WA
 
Project Name: Imperium terminal
Developer: Imperium Terminal Services
Operating capacity: 73,500 barrels per day – 7.4 trains a week.
 
Project Name: Westway terminal
Developer: Westway Terminal Company
Operating capacity: 49,000 barrels per day – 5 trains a week.
 
Project Name: Grays Harbor Rail terminal
Developer: U.S. Development Group
Operating capacity: 45,000 barrels per day – 4.5 trains a week.
 
Anacortes, WA
 
Project Name: Shell Puget Sound Refinery (add-on to existing facility)
Developer: Shell
Operating capacity: Additional 60,000 barrels per day – 6 trains a week.
 
Project Name: Tesoro Refinery
Developer: Tesoro
Operating capacity: 50,000 barrels per day – 5 trains a week.
 
Ferndale, WA
 
Project Name: BP Refinery
Developer: British Petroleum
Operating capacity: 70,000 barrels per day – 7 trains a week.
 
Project Name: Philips 66 Refinery
Developer: Philips 66
Operating capacity: 35,000 barrels per day – 3.5 trains a week.
 
Tacoma, WA
 
Project Name: US Oil & Refining
Developer: US Oil
Operating capacity: 40,000 barrels per day – 4 trains a week.
 
Project Name: Targa Terminals
Developer: Targa
Operating capacity: 40.000 barrels per day – 4 trains a week.
 
Portland, OR
 
Project Name: Arc Logistics terminal – located in Portland
Developer: Arc Logistics
Operating capacity: 16,250 barrels per day – 1.6 trains a week.
 
Project Name: Global Partners terminal – located in Clatskanie
Developer: Global Partners
Operating capacity: 120,000 barrels per day – 12 trains a week.
 
Total capacity: Over 1 million barrels per day, over 100 trains a week.
 
Resources
 
Stand Up to Oil coalition, of which Friends is a member
Sightline Institute articles about crude oil transport
Sightline Institute’s report “The Northwest’s Pipeline on Rails”
Oil Check – an interactive map of all Northwest opposition to oil trains
Oil Train Blast Zone – an interactive map from Forest Ethics showing how close you live to an oil train blast or evacuation zone