1 / 24

Derailing Ethanol

Derailing Ethanol. The Chelsea Creek Action Group’s Campaign to Stop Ethanol Transport by Train September 25, 2013 John Walkey and Kim Foltz. The Chelsea Creek Action Group.

ossie
Download Presentation

Derailing Ethanol

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Derailing Ethanol The Chelsea Creek Action Group’s Campaign to Stop Ethanol Transport by Train September 25, 2013 John Walkey and Kim Foltz

  2. The Chelsea Creek Action Group A coalition of residents from East Boston and Chelsea transforming the Chelsea Creek into a resource for our communities

  3. Environmental Justice Burdens… Chelsea, East Boston and Revere are already home to ALL of the jet fuel used at Logan Airport, 70% - 80% of the Region’s heating fuel, road salt for hundreds of cities in New England

  4. …Plus an Ethanol Terminal?

  5. Sales ($ in billions) Who is Global Oil? 2008 2007 2010 2009 2011 2012 Chelsea location on lower Broadway Revere Location on Route 1A

  6. What Did Global Propose? • 1 mile long trains (60-100 cars), 2-3 deliveries per week • Each train will hold 1.8-3 million gallons of ethanol per trip resulting in 2.8 million-4.68 million gallons annually • Trains running on commuter rail lines 12AM – 5AM

  7. Possible Routes

  8. Recent Derailments in Massachusetts February 2013 – Freight train, Springfield – hazardous liquid August 2012 –Commuter Rail, Belmont Center – on the Fitchburg Line! August 2011 –Freight train, Stockbridge – 12 cars of a 2000-foot train June 2011 – Freight train, Taunton – caused by sabotage of the tracks May & June 2011 – Freight, South Amherst – two derailments in a month South Amherst, 2011 Stockbridge, 2011

  9. Many Recent Ethanol Train Accidents Montana: 16 rail cars caught fire & 6 exploded . Part of 106-car train traveling at 23 mph. "It was a chain reaction of one car catching fire and another car catching fire as well." “The heat felt like your eyebrows were going to singe.” Columbus, Ohio: Derailment, after 2 a.m., caused 90,000 gallons of ethanol to catch fire and explode. “Created a huge fireball” and “Flames seen for miles” “The heat was so intense it was suffocating. It felt like it was 400 degrees. “I’m grateful that this did not occur in a more populated area” Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman Tiskilwa, Illinois  26 cars derail · October, 2011 Columbus, Ohio  3 explode and burn · July, 2012

  10. Ethanol: A “different animal” for firefighters 2012 Testimony by Boston Fire Marshall “Ethanol is a much different animal than gasoline or the other hydrocarbon based fuels we have been accustomed and trained to manage” “In an urban community... Life, safety and exposure concerns are exponentially higher” “The consequences of not fully investigating this are too high” Montana August, 2012

  11. Public Safety: Air Quality/Traffic Impacts Global is likely to transport final ethanol + gasoline mix by truck. The final volume of product is estimated to be 2.8 – 4.68 billion gallons. That will require 280,800 – 468,000 trucks per year leaving Global’s Revere facility or 5400 – 9000 trucks per week 769 – 1282 trucks per day 32 -53 trucks per hour, every hour of the day. This will increase air pollution by: • PM (lb):10,377.61 • NOx (lb): 195,317.26 • VOC (lb):23,099.58 • CO2 (ton):19,437.00 The volume of truck traffic also will severely impact safety on our roads.

  12. Public Safety: Terrorist Threats “Documents found in the US raid on Osama bin Laden's compound indicate that Al Qaeda was plotting an attack on the US rail system” ~Christian Science Monitor, May 6, 2011 Long before papers found at Osama bin Laden's Pakistani hideout revealed a plot to attack U.S. railroads, security experts warned that the nation's 140,000 miles of track presented an attractive—and difficult to protect—terror target. … The much-larger freight-railroad system also presents a daunting set of security challenges. Hazardous materials crisscross the U.S. and pass through major cities, often on tracks protected by little more than no-trespassing signs. ~Wall Street Journal, May 11, 2011 Menlo, Iowa June 12, 2011 “Miller said the switch tampering, and the creation of the gap in the tracks, clearly indicated to him that someone was trying to derail one of the 130-car trains that were running the track last Sunday.” ABC News

  13. Possible Routes

  14. The Hit List Massachusetts Towns Through which the Trains Would Have Passed on the Commuter Rail Lines Alone: • Revere • Chelsea • Everett • Boston • Somerville • Cambridge • Belmont • Waltham • Weston • Lincoln • Concord • Acton  • Boxborough • Littleton • Ayer • Shirley • Lunenberg • Leominster • Fitchburg • Medford • Winchester • Woburn • Wilmington • Billerica • Tewksbury • Lowell • Malden • Melrose • Wakefield • Reading • Newton • Wellesley • Natick • Framingham • Ashland • Southborough • Westborough • Grafton • Worcester Over 1 million people live within ½ mile of the proposed train route in Massachusetts!

  15. Example One Mile Radius Evacuation Areas

  16. Global Oil’s Record on the Chelsea Creek Since 1996: • 57 spills of petroleum products and other hazardous materials • Nearly 50,000 gallons polluting the soil and the Chelsea Creek March, 2006: Global Oil and Irving Oil responsible for a spill of 18,000 gallons of diesel oil into the Chelsea Creek.

  17. Launch of EthaNOl Campaign • Dozens testified at Revere Conservation Commission • Letter to Com Commsigned by 60 residents • 1000+ postcards collected • Testified at DEP Chapter 91 Hearing • Many many community meetings • Held meetings with state representatives and senators

  18. EthaNOl Campaign: First victory • Amendment to the MA Transportation Bond Bill passed, August 2012 after hundreds of residents expressed concerns • Mandated that DEP could not issue Global Oil a permit before a public safety study was completed by MassDOT • MassDOT to issue a public safety study on March 23, 2013 • Sponsored by local state senators and representatives

  19. EthaNOl Campaign: Public Safety Study • Two CCAG Members appointed to Advisory Group overseeing study • But Industry represented as well! • Opportunity to engage more residents, stakeholders, public officials in creating long-term solution • Collected input in multiple public meetings conducted by MassDOT

  20. EthaNOlCampaign Continues • Outreach to cities and towns along ethanol routes • Working with legislative champions on new state legislation • Meetings with local, state, federal agencies • Common responses: • Interstate commerce, federal pre-emption • My agency has no jurisdiction • We’re transporting worse stuff than ethanol already

  21. EthaNOl Campaign: Major Victory • July, 2013 Ethanol Amendment to MA Budget Bill passes Joint Ways and Means Committee, goes to Governor’s desk • Global Oil immediately withdraws application for Chapter 91 license: “We surrender!”

  22. EthaNOlCampaign Still Continues • Nothing YET signed into law • Global Oil or any other company could relaunch plans to bring ethanol by train • Meetings with Governor, Speaker DeLeo, legislative allies will continue until a new bill is signed into law

  23. Lessons Learned • Reaching out to new communities can increase impact but adds management challenges • Importance of perseverance • Impact of personal stories • Power of legal expertise coupled with grassroots advocacy

  24. Thank you!

More Related