On this Labor Day, longshoremen look back on a summer that vindicated our opposition to America’s largest proposed oil-by-rail project. After a terrifying oil train derailment in Mosier, weeks of public hearings, and a unanimous vote to ban oil terminals by Vancouver’s City Council, longshoremen continued to load wind turbines through the same port where Tesoro plans its massive terminal.Jared Smith, ILWU Local 4 President
The future our members support includes sleek, pale wind blades — not smoldering oil cars.
If built, Tesoro’s oil terminal would bring five mile-long trains carrying 100 or more tank cars right through downtown Spokane and Vancouver. That’s 3 million gallons of volatile crude oil per train, much of it destined for overseas ports.
Tesoro’s oil trains would be a near-constant presence and hazard to longshore workers. The Mosier derailment offers the clearest possible justification of our concerns and a blaring signal that Gov. Jay Inslee should reject Tesoro’s terminal.
Also this summer, local and state leaders joined ILWU in speaking out against the oil terminal. ILWU supported the city of Vancouver’s unanimous vote to ban future oil terminals like Tesoro’s. And Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark sided with ILWU, tribal nations, and Vancouver during a month-long hearing, urging the Washington Energy Council to deny the Tesoro proposal.
We hope that this summer’s unmistakable lesson remains clear for Gov. Inslee. He must deny the Tesoro project to protect worker safety and the possibility of a cleaner energy future
