By Nancy Hiser
In the short 2022 Oregon legislative session, SB1567, sponsored by Senator Dembrow and a lengthy list of other officials including Representative Brad Witt, was passed and signed by Governor Brown. Community members and activists have worked for years to awaken the public and elected officials to the human, environmental, and financial threats of the CEI Hub. The state acted quickly after the publication of the recent EcoNorthwest report by Multnomah County and the City of Portland that clearly magnifies and starkly quantifies these concerns. (See link at end.)
Of the oil tanks currently in use at the CEI Hub, 91% were constructed earlier than 1993 and before modern seismic technology; they are expected to dump their toxic and flammable contents into the Willamette River, the land, and air during a catastrophe.
SB1567 requires energy terminal owners to submit comprehensive seismic vulnerability assessments and mitigation plans to Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ)—the first time a governmental agency has some CEI Hub oversight and also a first step in holding the industry accountable to improve the seismic resilience of their tanks. Tank farm owners must submit their plans no later than June 1, 2024.
This regulation also requires the Oregon Department of Energy to develop a statewide Energy Security Plan to better prepare for a seismic event, protect local communities, and align with Oregon’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.
The CEI Hub’s industrial fuel tanks along the Willamette River in Linnton store over 90 percent of Oregon’s liquid fuel and 100% of the state’s jet fuel. An earthquake or other disaster could leave our entire state without fuel, creating a major obstacle to recovery. Wildlife, commerce, and recreation along the Willamette and Columbia Rivers would be impacted to such a degree that the environmental damage would echo throughout Oregon for decades. And, our Indigenous people who have already lost so much would sacrifice invaluable cultural resources.
We have many elected officials at all levels to thank, perhaps especially Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran who has diligently worked on our behalf for years and who testified at the SB1567 hearings, “I am horrified when I drive past the CEI Hub . . . it would be unconscionable to know about this risk and not act.” In her testimony, “ . . . the $359 million to $2.6 billion cost in damages – by the most conservative estimate – would be borne by our Oregon economy.”
Linnton is continuing to ask more of the county and city to reduce our risk by exercising their legislative powers.
For more information and links to reports go to: https://www.multco.us/sustainability/cei-hub-seismic-risk-analysis