Stop Zenith Energy – Portland, OR

 

Sign the petition to Portland City Council here

We say NO to dangerous and explosive oil trains in our communities.

Zenith Energy’s Portland Terminal is a fossil fuel transloading facility—meaning the company accepts fuel products from one mode of transportation and passes them along to another. Zenith typically transfers crude oil and tar sands oil (the most polluting form of energy on the planet) from trains to ships (through Chevron’s dock across NW Front Ave.), but it also has the ability to accept products via trucks. Most, if not all, of the product Zenith handles is destined for other places in the U.S.—it’s not used in Oregon. Since 2017, Zenith has been importing tar sands and crude oil to this Portland Terminal on mile-long trains from Canada and North Dakota, and community opposition to Zenith has been strong since the beginning and continues to grow.

A critical moment is upon us. We need you to join us to stop Zenith Energy from continuing to put our communities at risk with its dangerous oil-by-rail operation. In a matter of weeks, the City of Portland will make a critical decision that will impact the immediate health & safety of Portland’s residents and the integrity of the climate. The City will decide whether Zenith’s facility in NW Portland is consistent with the City’s land use goals. The obvious answer: It’s NOT!

Years of your hard work and advocacy have led to this decision point. Now more than ever, we need you to use your voice to demand that the City of Portland deny any new permits for Zenith. In the face of the climate emergency, Portland has the opportunity to say “NO!” to this dirty oil company and assert our vision for a sustainable city—one that values community and environmental health over profits for fossil fuel companies.

 

Now is the time to mobilize and we need you to join us. Here are three simple things you can do to get started:

 

– Sign the petition

– Call Portland City Council Members to demand they say no to Zenith oil-by-rail:

Dan Ryan
Dan Ryan oversees the Bureau of Development Services (BDS), which will make the decision regarding Zenith’s Land Use Compatibility Statement (LUCS). Only have time for 1 phone call? Call Dan Ryan!
CommissionerRyanOffice@portlandoregon.gov
503-823-3589

Mingus Mapps
MappsOffice@portlandoregon.gov
503-823-4682

Ted Wheeler
mayorwheeler@portlandoregon.gov
503-823-4120

Jo Ann Hardesty
joann@portlandoregon.gov
503-823-4151

Carmen Rubio
Comm.Rubio@portlandoregon.gov
503-823-3008

Join the growing movement against Zenith by getting involved with these local organizations:

Brief history of Zenith: In 2014, OPB reported that a former asphalt terminal in Portland had begun to handle crude oil trains. In 2017, after a hiatus in oil shipments, the same facility was purchased by Zenith Energy, and it began moving rail shipments of tar sands oil through Portland. Zenith’s facility, located at 5501 NW Front Ave., has operated as a petroleum products storage terminal since 1947, originally as Willbridge Asphalt Refinery. The 39-acre site has 84 tanks with a total storage capacity of 1,518,200 barrels. The asphalt refinery ceased operations in November 2006 and was officially closed in December 2008. Around 2013, Zenith’s predecessor, Arc Logistics, started using the facility to refine crude oil. Zenith took over in December 2017. The potential for a sinking oil spill in the Willamette or Columbia River adds severe environmental risks to crude oil trains that are also known to pose unacceptable public safety hazards. Learn more about tar sands and Zenith’s dangerous plans. from Attorney Erin Saylor at Columbia Riverkeeper.