Fwd: UPDATE on CEI Hub developments – Glass Half Full / Glass Half Empty

[Jay Harris]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Nikki Mandell <nikki....@gmail.com>

Subject: UPDATE on CEI Hub developments – Glass Half Full / Glass Half Empty

Date: January 14, 2025 at 4:39:07 PM PST

To: Nikki Mandell <nikki....@gmail.com>

HI All –

 

We’re hopeful that we’ll see real progress on the Critical Energy Infrastructure [CEI] Hub in the next few months. And, it can’t come a moment too soon. The horrific fires in LA are a stark reminder of how quickly potential danger can turn into real devastation.

 

As always, your continued support keeps us going, and ensures that those in positions to act are listening to all of us. So, here’s a quick run-down on CEI Hub measures in the hopper, and especially on how you and your group can help us move these forward -- 

 

Ø  City: Zenith Energy is pressuring city staff to grant a no-public-input, fast-tracked approval to expand their operations in the CEI Hub.  This will add new dangers to the CEI Hub.

Ø  County: A Risk Bonding ordinance will be reconsidered in the coming months.

Ø  State: Five bills related to making the CEI Hub and other fuel and hazmat storage facilities safer will be introduced.

 

More below on each of these – and what you can do ---

 

City of Portland A time-urgent development here, with implications for how the new city government will handle land use decisions affecting our neighborhoods and the city’s livability.

·       Zenith Energy, one of the largest CEI Hub facilities, applied for a new Land Use Compatibility Statement [LUCS] from the city after the state Dept. of Environmental Quality rejected the one on file with their application for an air quality discharge permit. DEQ gave the company until Feb. 4 to submit an adequate LUCS. For more, see With Zenith Energy’s Permits On The Line, Critics Urge Strong Government Oversight  - Portland Mercury

·       In their new LUCS application, Zenith says that they will contribute to the city’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable fuels. It’s debatable whether the company’s proposed expansion will do that.

o   The new LUCS application suggests that the company will expand fuel trains and barges to and from its CEI Hub facility in order to export sustainable aviation and other nonconventional fuels out of state.

o   What is not in question, is that nonconventional fuels -- whether called renewable, sustainable, or bio- fuels -- are as flammable and combustible as fossil fuels. In the event of an earthquake, fire, or train derailment, renewable fuels are just as dangerous as fossil fuels. The CEI Hub, located in a wildland-urban interface zone on unstable liquefiable soil, is the worst place to store any kind of liquid fuels.

·       What You Can Do: Contact the mayor and your district councilors. Let them know that this is a critical issue of public and environmental health and safety. The city’s review of Zenith’s LUCS application must be evidence-based, transparent, and open to public comment.  Contact an Elected Official | Portland.gov

o   Portland City Council will hold a work session on the new Zenith LUCS application on Tues., Jan. 21, 9:30-11:30am. Watch live, or recorded.  

 

Multnomah County We expect a Risk Bond* ordinance to be re-introduced to the county board in the next few months.

·       Newly elected commissioners Shannon Singleton and Meghan Moyer, whose districts include and border the CEI Hub area, are committed to sponsoring the ordinance.  

·       We plan to send them the letter that many of your groups signed last fall when the county first considered (but didn’t pass) a risk bond ordinance. Attached.

·       What You Can Do: Let your county commissioner and the county chair know that you support a strong risk bond ordinance. If your group wants to add their name to the attached group letter, please let us know by Jan. 31. 

*What is Risk Bonding? Risk bonding, a form of advance insurance, requires that a business/service provider – not the consumer or taxpayers – bears financial responsibility for costs arising from a disaster, accident, or provider failure.

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State – Legislation: All remains the same as reported in our December update – Read on for a reminder.

·       Five CEI Hub-related bills will be introduced in the 2025 OR legislative session. Widespread support will be needed to get these measures passed.

·       A brief description of these bills: (1) study of the risks of seismic-caused hazmat releases; (2) study of risk bonding as a statewide measure for bulk fuel storage facilities; (3) development and implementation of a plan to diversify the location of emergency fuel supplies; (4) transition planning for the CEI Hub; (5) expansion of uses of monies in the state’s Seismic Risk Mitigation Fund – currently unfunded

·       Stay Tuned: We’ll let you know when these bills are on the docket, and contacting legislators is most needed.

 

 

Thank you so much – together we are seeing much needed policy on the horizon -

Nikki Mandell

on behalf of the CEI Hub Task Force

 

 

 

Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its part…   [John Lewis, 2020]