Thanks to SLO County Planning Commission for oil-by-rail rejection
Many of us living up-rail of the Nipomo Mesa refinery, including residents of San Jose and East Bay communities such as Oakland and Fremont, sincerely appreciate the vote by the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission to reject the Philips 66 oil-by-rail project (“SLO Planning Commission rejects Phillips 66 oil-by-rail proposal,” Oct. 5). We hope that any appeal by Phillips 66 will also be rejected.
It is shocking that such a bad idea could have gotten so far. The mesa refinery has been supplied with crude oil by pipeline; pipelines are comparatively safe and reliable, if properly maintained. Rail transport of large quantities of volatile crude and “dilbit” is simply ill-conceived and would invite disasters, both slow — due to repeated exposure of rail-side residents to hazardous volatiles — and fast, including explosions such as occurred in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in 2014, and spills such as the recent one near Mosier, Oregon.
Phillips 66 should continue to rely upon pipelines for delivery of the refinery’s raw material, and cease the threats of truck transport as an “even worse” alternative to oil-by-rail.
Allen Carroll, San Jose
This story was originally published November 7, 2016 at 8:47 PM with the headline "Thanks to SLO County Planning Commission for oil-by-rail rejection."