The record · Transcript
Council Session — 2025-01-21
Transcript from the session's official auto-captions (13,252 words), shown in readable case and split into speaker turns. Speakers are not yet identified (colors just separate consecutive turns). Auto-captions can contain errors — check the recording for anything that matters.
Session summaryEditor-reviewed
A Portland City Council session, dated 2025-01-21, was held as a public listening session on Zenith Energy's land use compatibility statement (LUX) application. Dozens of speakers testified, most urging denial of the LUX, raising concerns about seismic vulnerability of storage tanks, proximity to liquefiable soil and the Cascadia subduction zone, air quality impacts from volatile organic compounds and diesel emissions, disproportionate risks to communities of color and low-income neighborhoods, and impacts on tribal treaty resources. Testimony questioned whether Zenith's shift toward renewable fuels, including renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel, and renewable naphtha, would reduce emissions, with some citing lifecycle and feedstock concerns, and figures on throughput, emissions, and export percentages were stated inconsistently across speakers. Several testifiers referenced past city resolutions on oil-by-rail, the comprehensive plan, and a Land Use Board of Appeals ruling requiring quasi-judicial review. One speaker, identified as working for a diesel supply company, spoke in support of reissuing the LUX. City staff, including the city attorney, described the LUX as currently an administrative decision within the executive branch, with options available for council to pursue a quasi-judicial process. Council members discussed pursuing a more robust public process, including a possible resolution to investigate the city's history with Zenith, and no votes were recorded as occurring during this session.
AI-drafted from the session's auto-captions, reviewed by an editor — describes the discussion only; recorded votes live in the vote ledger. Captions contain errors.
0 Guardrails in place on the existing renewables policy. Far from a focus on transitioning to renewables to provide our regional markets fuels, zenith has substantially expanded its fossil fuel export operations and are now requesting aviation fuel mixing to permanently maintain them from 22 to 23. Zenith crude oil throughput actually increased by a volume of 400%, more than the increase in their renewables throughput. Renewable diesel is still diesel, with the known risks of spills, fires, seismic concerns and polluting emissions along transportation corridors and from their liquefiable storage and transfer site. The city could have developed renewable facility storage and transportation standards since federal and land use permitting mostly concerned sale and purchase. Policy guardrails could have been put into place in the renewable standards, but staff ignored suggestions provided in public testimony. Since the renewable standard applies only for local fuel sales, the carbon intensity and fuel mix standards have little to do with zenith's export operations, and are part of the greenwashing guys. Zenith misled the city with to prolong and expand their liquid fuel exports, limit zenith to regional fuel needs under the city's renewable policy, with a phase out timeline and sufficient guardrails, or deny the lux. Otherwise, switching to renewables will cause a delay in the broader transition to Green electrification and prolong the transition to cleaner fuels and build an industry that will push back against the much needed transition away from dangerous fossil fuels. Thank you.
1 Go right ahead.
2 Good afternoon everyone. My name is deneen crowe and I live in district two, and I am the campaign manager at 350 pdx. I'd like to take a second to just maybe ask you to imagine for a moment that you're all on city council like you are now. But it's 2008, and there are members of boardman coal power plant who've come to council to talk with you for 20 minutes on how their new clean coal technology is leading the way for the industry. And they want to make the city of Portland the main purchaser of electricity generated from this new clean coal. And now I'd like to invite you to consider how that scenario is different from what's happened this morning in 2040. When you're looking back on your first month on city council, will you be proud of how you stood up to the same old repeated marketing tactics from a dying industry and listened to and protected your constituents? Or will you look back and grimace, knowing that you fell for this pr stunt? When a texas based oil company slapped the words renewable and sustainable in front of their plans, and that won you over. Zenith energy is not a local renewable fuels company, as they try to market themselves. Zenith is an oil company from texas. That's it. They operate seven terminals across the country, and six of them are primarily crude oil. The one terminal where they're experimenting with this new renewable identity. It's right here in Portland. They just know their audience here. That's all. This isn't what this company really specializes in, and it's not who they really are. Do we want to be their testing ground and their guinea pig? It is not your responsibility to keep this company afloat. You have a really exciting opportunity in front of you to make a difference in your first 100 days, and make a large percentage of the electorate really happy with you. So I hope you take this opportunity.
3 Thank you both.
4 Good afternoon, city council. My name is benjamin platt. I am a district three resident in inner southeast Portland. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. There are many things I wish I could touch on from the safety risks zenith's operations posed to our community, to zenith's environmental costs, to what we might call their chronic noncompliance with regulations if we're giving them the benefit of the doubt, which I don't think they deserve. But since I've only got two minutes, I'll just focus on one portion of the safety problem, the seismic safety to start. To the best of my knowledge, at this time, zenith has failed to comply with the deq's fueltank seismic stability rules, having provided only completed assessments of four out of their 80 plus tanks. Noting that two of these tanks had piping at risk for seismic rupture. In addition, the seismic analyzes in zenith's 2022 lux application are limited to 5501 northwest front avenue, despite the fact that zenith's actual operations use the mccall and chevron docks as well as adjacent tax lots. Again, as far as I know, zenith has not provided an updated analysis to the city that covers its actual operations. But regardless of that, Multnomah county's 2022 impacts of fuel releases from the cei hub report shows that all of these properties are in a location with very high potential for permanent ground deformation, potential for moderate slash heavy damage, and moderate to high liquefaction susceptibility. I don't know how that could translate to a quote unquote low risk assessment, as zenith claimed earlier this morning. So based on the information zenith has provided, when weighed against more holistic, available information, zenith's operations continue to pose substantial and intolerable risks to humans, the non-human environment, and tribal treaty resources. I hope you continue to involve the public in this process and in future processes surrounding portland's fuel future, and that in the name of community health and safety, we can stop zenith's operations. Thank you.
5 Next up we have peter kokopelli, sophie guyer, linda wysong, followed by linda lou, lynn hanlon and kathy spofford.
6 Welcome. Thank you all for being here today.
7 Thank you.
8 Good morning, mayor and the new city council. My name is peter kokopelli and I live in district three. For the past three weeks, the residents of los angeles have watched their homes burned to the ground. This climate change driven catastrophe has been brewing for years, with earlier precedents such as paradise, california, etched in our memories by the loss of lives and property. The catastrophe in los angeles was foreseen. How do we know? We know because insurance companies started pulling out of california a decade ago, when their own catastrophe models told them what the future held. We have our catastrophe reports on the cei hub prepared by the city and the county. The issue before us is not whether there will be an accident or earthquake at the cei hub, but when. The issue before us is, what can we do today to prevent a catastrophe just five miles from where we sit? What we can do is limit the future harm. What we can do is deny the zenith lux and phase out the trans shipment of dangerous liquid fuels through our beautiful city. A massive transition to biofuels is not a climate solution. Thank you for your the opportunity to speak here, and I'd like to see more opportunities for public involvement on this issue. And again, I urge the city and the council to deny the lux for zenith.
9 Good afternoon, mayor and city council. My name is sophie guyer and I live in the blast zone of zenith oil trains in the Sellwood neighborhood. I care deeply about stopping zenith to protect the environment, my friends, my family and my home here in Portland. Today I would like to focus my testimony on the purpose of zenith's new lux application. Zenith claims its new application is simply to fix clerical errors, a claim which is demonstrably false. Zenith only applied for this lux after being ordered to do so by the deq. When a surprise inspection uncovered illegal construction and modification of piping on its chevron and mccall docks, which was not covered by the company's previous lux. As if their callous disregard for our city's laws wasn't enough. Zenith is using this application to sneak in significant expansions to the scale, scope and uses of their facilities. The new application adds five more tax slots and on site fuel blending. It also walks back their agreement to the city to use new infrastructure exclusively for transporting renewable fuels, which was in part the basis for their 2022 lux. These fuels were defined in their application as and I quote, biodiesel, biomethane and clean hydrogen produced from non-petroleum non-natural gas, renewable resources and having less than 5% fossil fuel content. End quote. However, their new application includes new infrastructure to handle jet fuel and aviation fuel blends with more than 5% fossil fuels. Thus, by their own definition, expanding fossil fuel operations. Section 6.48 of the city's comprehensive plan states that fossil fuel distribution and storage should be limited to those necessary to serve the regional market. Zenith's new lux is not consistent with this plan, as the company plans to expand its fossil fuel operations and will continue to ship most of its fuel out of this state. Please do the right thing and deny zenith's.
10 Love.
11 Environment, and long term goals of our city.
12 Thank you.
13 Thank you. Hello. Good afternoon to all the members of the new city council. My name is linda wysong and I live in Kenton and I'm a member of the Kenton neighborhood association. We are in the blast zone and are deeply worried about zenith and its continued expansion. For the past four years, we have written letters and communicated our concerns to the city commissioners and mayor, but without acknowledgment or result. With this in mind, it seems appropriate to read a short section of a letter sent to the council four years ago. Quote. We urge the Portland city council to deny the land use compatibility statement to zenith in a year of historic climate events affecting our region. The urgency of taking bold action is critical. Zenith energy's transportation of flammable and poisonous oil from the tar sands of canada and the oil fields of north dakota by rail, poses immense risks to the community and the environment. From accidents, potential spills, explosions and climate change. This rail line runs through north Portland and the neighborhood of Kenton, unquote. Today, zenith continues to move crude oil through portland's neighborhoods. But even if crude oil is reduced, the residents and the land will be threatened by the transportation of other dangerous liquid fuels, including jet fuel, fuel, diesel and other hazardous compounds. Some of these products are even more flammable and explosive than the oil. Crude oil. Please do not be misled. Misled by the terminology, the dangers are still present and very real. We urge this council to be bold and distinguish itself by acting and listening to and caring for the health and well-being of the community. Thank you.
14 Thank you all for being here today.
15 Next up we have linda lou, lynn hanlon, kathy spofford, followed by nikki mandel, lorraine scheer, and willie levinson.
16 Welcome and go right ahead.
17 Good afternoon, mayor and city councilors. My name is linda lou. I'm 23 years old. I live in district three, and I hope to make Portland my permanent home. Today, I want to dispute a troubling conception that xena's terminal may be crucial for the city and Oregon to meet its carbon reduction targets, or the approval of xena's land use permit would only ensure stakeholders ability to comply with the renewable fuel standard. Neither is true for the following reasons. The 2025 clean fuels program forecast has identified 13 potential facilities capable of capable of providing renewable diesel to Oregon. Trimet, port of Portland, titan freight and other major users of diesel have already made the switch to renewable diesel in the past five years. Businesses partner with regional suppliers to meet their emission reduction targets. They wanted to, so they have had these businesses wanted to switch and they have had despite market conditions, this should tell us the supply of renewable diesel into Oregon is not threatened by xena's application. While zenith is able to store liquid fuels, they're not the sole option. If this city council is concerned about the Green economy. There are companies that have a proven track record in renewable fuel supply and delivery. I urge leaders to exercise discretion with information from the industry representatives. We may risk being credulous if we're convinced by zenith's proposal, given that it's only showed the public and the city, with their consistent record of dishonesty and violations. In addition, the most effective near-term solution for reducing portland's greenhouse gas emission is not renewable diesel. Instead, you all should feel empowered to plan for electrification, invest in public transit, and building more family homes. Thank you.
18 Hi, my name is lynn hanlon and I want to thank you, all of you. Mayor and city councilors for this opportunity to do some zenith myth busting, as donnie requested. It is needed to offset their deception, lies, and greenwashing. So first of all, the lux. This new lux is not compatible with the comprehensive plan, including claims about renewable fuels. First of all, myth transitioning to renewable fuels will lead to a reduction in portland's transportation related carbon emissions. Not necessarily true. Not all renewable fuels are the same. And what kind of renewable fuels is zenith transporting and who's going to be using them? According to richard plevin, phd, referring to renewable fuels. It's not fossil fuel but can emit more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels. So be aware and ask questions. Renewable fuels lead to carbon emissions from start to finish, including feedstock problems. Industrial agriculture is a big driver of climate change. Transportation, production involving fossil gas and more. Another myth, zenith claims in the hazard section of the lux application they refer to, they referring to the hazards portion of the comprehensive plan because they say, because they will eliminate crude oil from the site over the next five years. The potential risks of an impact from crude oil to the surrounding area during a seismic event are reduced, but they seem to be ignoring the fact that they are increasing their throughput, not decreasing it. And renewable fuels are just as dangerous to the communities. So it's not. It doesn't work with the comprehensive plan, and it is impossible to explain all the problems with zenith's reliance on renewable fuels. In a two minute testimony, you need a two hour session with non industry renewable fuels experts, and I know you guys have a lot on your plate, but this is important. This meeting is a great start and I look forward to the many public hearings to follow. Thank you.
19 Good afternoon. My name is kathy spofford and I live in region one. Zenith energy claims that they will cut carbon emissions by 80% when they transition from fossil fuels to so-called renewables. But zenith has a history of being less than truthful about their operation. Let's look at one of these fuels renewable diesel or r&d. R&d is not the Green solution it's purported to be. If you take into consideration the direct and indirect emissions, direct emissions come from production, preparation, conversion and transportation. The indirect emissions come from the source of the feedstock. R&d can be made from low value waste oils, but availability is limited and growth will require the use of crop based oils, corn, soy or palm. These agricultural activities involved in creating biofuels can increase nitrogen oxides. These oxides contribute greatly to global warming and may offset any co2 reduction. R&d from soy and corn. Oil shifts land from growing crops for food to growing crops for fuel, and uses large amounts of water and fertilizer. Palm oil is directly linked to massive deforestation in southeast asia, and thus destroys a major source of carbon capture. A recent study found that biofuel production involving land conversion from forest to crop cultivation, has greenhouse gas impacts higher than fossil fuels. Feedstock matters. Don't be fooled by zenith's deceptive client climate solutions. Thank you.
20 Thank you all for being here today.
21 Next up we have nikki mandel, loreen shearer and willie levinson, followed by lori king, leslie koken, and jody varney. Nikki is joining us online. Okay.
22 Go right ahead, nikki. Thank you.
23 Nikki may have dropped off. Loreen, are you there? Yes.
24 I am here.
25 Oh. Oh, no. I'm sorry. It's actually loreen share online. Sorry about that. Go ahead. Loreen.
26 All right. Good afternoon, mayor wilson and councilors. Are you hearing me? Fine. I am talking to you today. As a lifelong Oregonian and long time houseboat resident on the Multnomah channel, where we live, beside the oil tanks and railroad cars. Travel, travel through our neighborhood every day. And today is a good day. It is my complete pleasure to be with you in your chambers, to talk briefly in this public hearing, public hearing, knowing your decision making doors are open to the people you represent and not taking place privately in a back channel solely with industry representatives. It's heartening to know you're listening to the people you represent, and getting the information you need in order to take the bold action that's required in this time of transition for the people of Portland and the healthy, beautiful place we live. I'm not an expert in biofuels and renewable energy, but you have access to scientists and people who live and breathe this. Knowledgeable people you can listen to and figure things out with. People who share the same goals as you and us, to keep Portland vital now and in the future. What I do know from representing meatpackers, food processors and warehouse workers across the country at tyson, conagra, snowmelt and others, is that biofuels derived from the industrial production of ethanol from sugar, corn, potatoes, sunflower, soybeans and animal fats are very similar. As a union representative, I saw up close and personal the destruction that industrial agriculture can wreak on our land, our water and our people. Biofuel production is no different. I also learned that with the backing of workers in their communities coming together to protect themselves and the places they live, negotiations and decisions went a whole lot better for everyone. So that's your role now to make hard decisions that align with your vision for a safe and livable Portland. It's our role now to back you as you become informed of the science and structures needed to reach strong agreements with industry, in this case, zenith. They haven't been trustworthy. They haven't been direct. But you can you can stand up and advocate strongly, I'm sure. So here's to a new day of integrity and transparency and listening and involving the people affected.
27 Thank you.
28 Nikki mandel.
29 Thank you. Can you hear me now?
30 We can hear you.
31 Okay, great. Thank you, city councilors, for this opportunity and for your clear eyed questions this morning. Despite staff claims zenith's application is not eligible for an administrative review. The comprehensive plan for short, I'll call the cpp, defines administrative decisions as, quote, those made under clear and objective standards without exercise of discretion. End quote. The city does not have clear and objective standards for the applications. Proposed transformation of a landlocked fossil fuel facility into a, quote. River related river dependent marine terminal. Nor does it have clear and objective standards for allowing mixing of sustainable aviation or other fuels. The city is obligated by its own cp, as well as the luba and appeals court decisions to review the 2024 lux through a application through a quasi judicial review process that includes findings in compliance with the comprehensive plan. Such a review will reveal, among other conflicts, that it is not compatible with the cp's clean and safe and Green policy. 6.47. The cp's limit fossil fuel distribution policy 6.48, and many others. For example, the fuels it proposes to handle are not clean, safe and Green, as others have mentioned. The lux application will expand, not limit, fossil fuel distribution as required by the cpp. In fact, it would worsen and not improve the safety of freight corridors. And I'll mention that in the past two years, 30 freight trains have derailed in Oregon, five of them in Multnomah county, according to federal statistics. I urge mayor wilson, administrator jordan, to immediately halt the unwarranted administrative review and initiate a full quasi judicial review requiring public hearings and verified evidence of compatibility with the comprehensive plan. As per cp pages, h2 3-4. Thank you.
32 Willie. Willie.
33 Willie you're muted.
34 Thank you. Welcome new city council administrator. Jordan donny. City councilors. Mayor. You all work so hard in such competitive races to win such a demanding job. Be careful what you wish for, but I thank you in advance for the sacrifice that you guys are making. And I feel your commitment to the city. It'll come as no surprise that human access projects and our constituents are against zenith and the cei hub, which we view as one of the same beast. I'm not sure what a good location would be for such a dangerous, dirty and explosive business with such a horrible track record of transparency and documented bad behavior, including a nearly $400,000 fine from deq. But next to our beloved river and citizens who live in a blast zone of saint johns and linnton is absolutely not the place. Without belaboring how we got here, this is a decision that the city council will now own. We have more staff now, which was a good decision. You guys need to have more support other than one staff person. With this extra staff, you have an ability to do more research. I see absolutely no reason myself and I'm absolutely not an expert in this. But why? A rush needs to be made to adopt this. Lucas. It seems like this is an opportunity to take more time, particularly in the role of city council. A lot of people campaigned with zenith being a bad idea but make no mistakes. The attorney, the administrative staff of the government works for you. You guys are on the city. These guys are here to support you. It's never too late to stop a bad decision that's been made. July 1924 100 years ago today, city council moved to close the Willamette river due to sewage discharge in the Willamette river. It would be nearly 100 years later until we cleaned up the river enough to open poets beach. Great strides are being made on our river. We're on the cusp of a river renaissance, and more and more people are recreating in our second largest public space natural area. This Sunday will mark one full year of no sewage overflow into our river. Thank you. 1.4 $4,000,000 billion investment in the big pipe. We don't want to throw all of this away. History tells us that night columbia other businesses. Maybe Portland could have done more.
35 Thank you. Willie. I'm sorry that we have to cut you off there. Thank you all for being with us today and sharing that information.
36 Next up we have lori king, leslie cogan, jody varney, followed by bonnie mckinley, mark d'arienzo, d'arienzo, sorry, and mckayla mccormick.
37 Thank you for being here. Go ahead whenever you're ready.
38 Thank you. Good afternoon. Our new city council and mayor. I'm lori king, saint john's resident. Although zenith is already a large operation, in 2022, they moved 550 olympic sized swimming pools worth of crude oil through Portland. They just presented city officials with stunning plans to make Portland the non-conventional, or so-called renewable fuels hub for the entire west coast. To this end, the new luxe application asks for permission to operate on three additional properties and two additional docks to build four new rail racks, and to preserve the critical ability to construct new storage tanks. Zenith supporters say that they only supply the regional market with fuel, but zenith's own words, west coast hub and their own data showing that 85% of their throughput will be exported out of Portland, contradicts these justifications, and I can provide information on that in writing. Increasing the amount of combustible fuels of whatever kind at the hub in the face of the predicted cascadia earthquake, increases risks to portlanders and goes against comprehensive plan 4.81 within Portland and Oregon, let alone the entire west coast. We need to transition off burnable fuels, not ramp them up, as zenith is planning to do. Non-conventional fuels still put carbon into the atmosphere, and portland's 2020 climate emergency declaration calls for carbon emissions to be reduced to 50% below 1990 levels by 2030. That's five years from now. Bts itself acknowledged last September that Portland is not on track to meet these goals. Let's get on track, zenith. Lux is not fixing a clerical error. It's all risks to our health and to our climate and no benefit. Please do your due diligence. And I think if you do, you will deny. Fight for denying the lux to zenith. Thank you very much.
39 Lastly.
40 Can you all hear me?
41 We can hear you.
42 Okay, great. Hello, everyone. I'm leslie koch and I live in district district three. Zenith's new lux would increase throughput if our goal, as it should be, is to transition away from all fuel storage at this super vulnerable location as quickly as possible, increase throughput and new fuels and activities such as fuel blending will not support this. The lux would also exempt zenith from its renewables agreement with the city. Zenith's 2022 lux requires that new infrastructure be used exclusively for transporting renewable fuels. Several fuels in zenith's most recent lux application do not meet this definition. For example, zenith's plans for sustainable aviation fuels violates the city's limit that any renewable fuels contain less than 5% fossil fuel. The city should consider the life cycle, carbon and natural resource impacts of all fuels labeled as renewable. Since many fail the climate emissions reduction test and will damage public health and natural resources. Whether these harms occur in Portland or elsewhere is not the issue. We all live on the same planet. Fuels that zenith claims will meet the renewable fuel definition are riddled with greenwashing. For example, renewable diesel can be worse than fossil fuels given upstream and downstream emissions. The source of the feedstock and the fracked gas used to process the fuel. Many of zena's proposals fail the climate emissions reduction test and the needs test. What local fuels are needed as we transition? Should Portland store fuels for the unsustainable and burgeoning private and charter flight industry? Should we put Portland residents and workers at risk from nap that transport and storage to feed the growing plastics production industry? I hope that the mayor and the city councilors, and considering all testimony, will see the importance of denying the zenith lux. Thank you very much.
43 Jody.
44 Good afternoon. Members of Portland city council. My name is jody varney and I am a resident of the king neighborhood. I really appreciate this opportunity to speak to you. I grew up here in Portland, a long before crude oil cars became a common sight. When I moved back here in 2017, I was actually shocked to see the quantity of railcars transporting volatile fuels through our city. I regularly travel by bicycle up and down the east waterfront and along 17th avenue into Sellwood and across into the clinton bike thruway. And all of this is alongside a train route. This highly flammable cargo crosses through Portland regularly, passing through neighborhoods and businesses and traversing at least 15 major car and pedestrian crossing crossings in inner Portland. I've waited many times at crossings with many others as rail car after rail car creeps by. Seeing a visual indicator of crude oil just traversing through our city. Right here in the busy populated areas where proximity to these trains adds unnecessary risk. So I'm deeply concerned about zenith energy's storage of volatile fuels here in Portland, near the waterfront, in an area that's vulnerable to seismic activity. Their business model actually depends on transporting large quantities of liquid fuel by rail and storing them there in facilities located within the subduction zone. This creates a significant disaster risk for our city, with little benefit to Portland, as much of the fuel isn't even consumed here. So zenith promises to expand into renewable fuels, as you've heard quite a lot about from other testimonies. This is just an expansion of the volatile fuels that will be transported through Portland, Oregon. This means that we're going to continue to see more and more of these rail cars passing through zenith's operations, undermine our sustainability goals, and put our communities at risk. I.
45 Thank you.
46 Thank you so much for being here today, all of you.
47 Next up we have bonnie mckinley, mark d'arienzo, michaela mccormick, followed by terrence moses, jamarion malley, and melanie platt.
48 Thank you. Go right ahead.
49 Bonnie mckinley. District four. I ask our city council mayor, city administrator, deputy city administrator to carefully look around at the people assembled here. I suspect that each one represents at least 20 people who just couldn't leave their jobs, or their children, or their caretaking duties to be in council chamber today. Who are these people? Why do they wait for busses, bike the bridges, pay the parking, walk their way here to be in the halls of city government? Who are these people? They are the ones who care. They are the ones who are not looking for profit, not devising seamless methods of deception, not trying to make a buck at the expense of community safety. Who are these people? Some of them appear often on sidewalks, greeting the public, researching, collecting petition signatures, writing letters, making calls, giving testimony, attending forums. They come with ferocious energy, with unlimited hope for a breakthrough. They have been on the steps of this building almost six full years ago, with oversize notes crying, hey zenith, you missed the memo. The memo then and now is zenith. You don't belong here. Officials listen to us. Hear us! Leaders of city and state protect the people. The natural gifts protect these precious lands, these waterways, these skyways. Who are these people? These people. All they want to do is to protect this city, its people, this air quality, this river, the health of this region. Thank you.
50 Mark d'arienzo.
51 Well. Thank you. My name is mark dirienzo. I'm in district three. And thank you for the opportunity to testify. And this concerning genus new lux application is much more than just a fixing the clerical errors. By excluding the mccall dock and other docks from his 2022 lux application, zenith appears to have intentionally excluded activities from that application that were inconsistent with its representations to the city, that no new development for handling fossil fuels was proposed as part of the air contamination discharge permit. Such convenient emissions are wholly inconsistent with a clerical error. Indeed, those these self-serving misrepresentations are only some of the most recent. For a company that has repeatedly misled regulators over its short tenure in Portland. And to add ben's testimony earlier about the inadequacy of the seismic studies conducted by zenith, geotechnical information from adjacent facilities to deq to the fuel tank seismic stability program show much more significant impacts from a seismic event. And so that's really, really important. And it's kind of a complex system down there geologically. But I think that, you know, to find out what actually is going to happen there needs more more study. And these other adjacent studies point to inadequacy of what zenith did. So I urge you to deny the lux. Thank you.
52 Micaela.
53 Hello, I'm michaela mccormick. I live in district two. Evidence does not support zenith's claims of carbon emissions reductions, biofuels and renewable fuels are false climate solutions touted by fossil fuel industries to lock our economies into generations of infrastructure that profits the fossil fuel industry, while simultaneously depleting the country's and the earth's land, water and air quality, and perpetuating the harms of industrialized agriculture. There are a multitude of options for innovation that do not require the sacrifice of north Portland communities, or communities in feedstock areas that are already dealing with the soil, water and air. Impacts of monocrop agriculture. Among all the harmful practices and regulatory violations zenith perpetuates, which my colleagues are speaking to, zenith stated intent to transition to bio and renewable fuels by itself is a toxic smokescreen for protecting its addiction to profit and economic growth at the expense of our health and safety and that of our children and grandchildren. Zenith holds itself accountable only to increasing profits and its self-serving shareholders. It has the resources, if not yet, the will, to transition to truly clean energy sources and begin to participate as an ethical and responsible enterprise in the healing of our climate and serving the fundamental needs of every member of our community. Please do the right and just thing. Hold zenith accountable and deny them the lux. Thanks.
54 Thank you all for sharing your comments today.
55 Next up we have terrence moses, jamarion malley, and melanie plott. Followed by margaret butler and turner. John jacoby.
56 Welcome. Go right ahead when you're ready.
57 Oh, go ahead, ma'am, go ahead.
58 Should I go? Hi. Hi, my name is melanie plout. It actually rhymes with sauerkraut. Thank you. Mayor, staff and council. I live in district two. I worked as an ob gyn doctor for decades in the Portland area. I say the city should approve the lux, but if and only if first. If the site is not in an area prone to natural hazards. But c 4.79 in the comprehensive plan. In fact, it's probably the worst place that one could choose for this activity. Second, if the complex, less lux history were not based on a political compromise and house of cards involving the controversial benefits of, quote, renewable fuels. Just to be clear, the climate benefit of a fuel like renewable diesel or sustainable aviation fuel cannot be measured in the fuel itself, but depends on models which take into account the feedstock, which could be a crop displacing food or forest, and on complicated market forces and energy calculations. These fuels may not actually help our climate or help very much, and may be a distraction from other solutions like electrification or rail. As mayor wilson has said, we need to decrease our reliance on all liquid fuels and get them out of the cei hub. And lastly, even if we believed in a temporary transition to renewable fuels, would we choose houston based zenith to be the center of the hub? Maybe if they were as law abiding, as good hearted as they would like you to believe, but they are not. And remember the seismic assessments you heard about today have not been approved by dick. Thank you.
59 Jamarion. You're muted. Okay, we'll come back. Next we have terrence moses. Margaret. Margaret. Butler.
60 Okay. Hi. Thank you for listening to me. Mayor wilson and city council. I'm margaret butler, a lifelong portlander living in district three. And we're in a climate emergency, and we need to take bold action. Smith says it's pledge in the 2022 lux to get off crude oil by 2027 is legally enforceable. But legal experts we've talked to don't know that that's true, even if it is, phasing out crude oil does not mean an end to fossil fuels at the facility, as its 2024 lux and cdp applications include ultra low sulfur diesel jet fuel, sustainable aviation fuel, and crude oil. Additionally, deq has stated while the lux prohibits new fossil fuel infrastructure, there is nothing to prevent zenith from increasing fossil fuel throughput. Throughput from existing infrastructure on site. As long as zenith complies with all permit requirements. I'm concerned about the massive increase in zenith transport of dangerous fuels. Despite their 2018 promise to state and city officials that there would be no increase in throughput, and that hasn't been mentioned yet today. Despite this promise, in a legally binding reporting document, zenith crude oil throughput increased 129% since 2019, and its overall liquid fuel transport increased 151%. Notably, their 2023 state reporting shows that it increased total crude oil throughput 10.4% that year, even though they're supposedly lowering the amount of crude oil they're transporting that result, their report shows they actually increased it in that first year of the transition. Thank you very much.
61 Well, let's try jamarion molly again online. If you're on a phone, if you press star six you can unmute. All right. Let's move on to ann turner online.
62 Hello. Can you hear me?
63 We can hear you.
64 Great. Good afternoon, mayor wilson and city council. My name is ann turner and I live in district two. I'm a retired physician also like melanie plaut. And I volunteer with Oregon physicians for social responsibility. I strongly urge you to deny the lux. I will focus my testimony on the issue of health and safety, specifically around the issue of air quality, in addition to the risk of explosions from a train accident, other accidents or disasters within the cei hub, like the inevitable earthquake, venus and other cei hub workers and those living in nearby neighborhoods like linton and Kenton are exposed to air pollutants from zenith's operations every single day. My first exposure to zenith was being next to its facility for four hours during a 2019 60 hour vigil, and I left that vigil both nauseated and with a headache from the air quality that I was breathing for four hours. Zenith transports its fuel by rail and has massively increased the number of trains transporting fuel into Portland over the last several years. Trains burn diesel, one of the most toxic pollutants emitting particulate matter. Pm, which is pm 2.5. Tiny particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Portland already has a huge diesel problem. These air pollutants are associated with premature deaths, cancer, strokes, asthma, and exacerbation of chronic respiratory conditions, to name just a few of the health issues. No matter what fuel venus is transporting, diesel pollution will not decrease from its trains, and the issue of so-called renewable fuels may emit may possibly emit slightly fewer air pollutants, but the quantity is negligible and their application for an air quality permit zenith state that the stated that the reduction of vocs and nitrogen oxides will decrease, but only minimally, and that carbon monoxide emissions will increase. Almost 20% of deaths worldwide are caused by air pollution.
65 Thank you. Thank you so much.
66 Next up we have john jacoby, marty glickman, pat kazmarek, followed by michael mintz, jane terry and cassie cohen.
67 All right. Good afternoon. Councilors. My name is john jacoby. I am a resident of district three in the south tabor neighborhood, and I'm the co-chair of the ecosocialist working group of the Portland democratic socialists of America. Before you sitting today, I represent only myself. I had prepared a short speech highlighting the dangers of renewable naphtha, a so-called renewable substance that zenith intends to begin storing at scale at the facility while it phases out crude oil. Renewable naphtha poses a variety of dangers to our community, particularly in the event of a major seismic event, but you're going to hear more about that, it seems like, from other people, and there's a lot of discussion of the particulars of this land use application. So I want to recenter on something else, a disconnect between what our city officials perceive as a robust public process and what citizens have been demanding for over six years, legitimate public engagement and legitimate enforcement power for the city to wield in its land use decisions. Councilor Smith, you asked earlier today when we were talking with our city officials about what role city council has. We've been getting a lot of emails asking for constituents, you know, please stop this lux permit and you ask them, what can we and I want to ask you right now to think about that as a mandate. People want something to happen on this issue. A lot of constituents don't know what our land use process is, and attempts to find out information about it as a member of the general public is difficult, to put it very mildly. You're often learning new information the day of in presentations like this, and that is a very frustrating experience and an experience which prevents the public from being involved. This is not a land use decision for a daycare. This is a land use decision for a giant facility which can explode. And the even if it's a small possibility of an explosion, that is something which should be considered when we're evaluating how public input is weighed and the opportunities we present to the public to be involved in this process. So I'd like to ask you to think, okay, if this is an administrative process or a quasi judicial judicial process for this decision, whatever, what is our administrative process going forward for decisions like this? How can we have the public be involved in administrative decisions at this scale in a way that is meaningful and reflects a good balance between, you know, meeting the needs of the city and meeting the needs of the public. How can we make this process better the next time, so that we don't have these lengthy, years long meetings that don't result in the kind of public engagement we've been lacking? Please use this as an opportunity.
68 Hi everyone, I'm marty glickman. I live in district two in the sabin neighborhood. Thank you for the morning work session and this afternoon's listening session. Like many of us today, I am inspired by the legacy of bob sallinger. City of Portland should deny zenith energy's luxe application. It is not compatible with the city's 2035 comprehensive plan. Zenith creates severe negative risks for all portlanders future generations. The Willamette river wildlife in the heart of our city. Like willie said, we are on the verge of a river. Renaissance. Zenith is too dangerous for Portland. Zenith explosive facilities are located on seismically vulnerable land on liquefiable soil, one mile from forest park and just five miles from where we are right now in city hall. Zenith explosive liquid fuels arrive and depart on rail trains that run through communities of color, poor communities and tribal treaty resources. In fact, 25% of Multnomah county residents live in the blast zone. Zenith should get an award for greenwashing at this point. It is a work of fiction that renewable fuels will result in up to 80% carbon reduction emissions and 80% carbon emissions reductions. Their claims remind me, oh boy of the title of one of my favorite books, toxic sludge is good for you. Councilors. Mayor wilson, moving forward, how will we continue to make this an inclusive public process that is meaningful? This question is just as important as the factual points being made today. Our local work together is core to our survival because our federal government is infested with too many greedy, hateful people now, and we want our city government to be a shining example of people power, democracy, community safety and climate leadership. Thank you.
69 Pat kaczmarek.
70 Mr. Mayor and city council members, thank you for taking testimony today on the zenith energy lux. My name is pat kazmarek and I'm a 30 year resident and voter of southwest Portland. I want to take your attention today to two binding city Portland policies. E and n-10-01 regarding oil trains and enn-1002 regarding fossil fuels. These policies were put in place by forward thinking efforts by former mayor charlie hales and the city council. Back in 2015 to prohibit an increase in crude oil and other fossil fuels being transported by rail through Portland. These policies were the result of city council resolution three, seven, 164 and 37168. I ask the mayor and city council to move forward to enforce current and future breaches of these city policies, including infrastructure, expansion of rolling stock, infrastructure operated by union pacific and burlington northern, santa fe or other rail companies operating in Portland. Now is the time to recognize the life threatening impacts of fossil fuels and support an accelerated phase out of fossil fuel extraction, processing, transport and burning. We need climate heroes now. Thank you.
71 Thank you all so much for your testimony.
72 Next up we have michael mintz. Jane terry, cassie cohen, followed by thomas. Yo, catherine fredericks and katie mcfadden.
73 Yes. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is michael mintz. I live actually across the street now from district four in milwaukee, but I still work in Portland. And really, you know, zenith and the critical energy infrastructure hub that is a region. This is a regional issue. But I lived in Portland for well over 20 years and still in the fight. But what I, my colleagues have so articulately, articulately and passionately expressed so many reasons why zenith should not be allowed to move forward with its plans. What I want to say is that synthesized diesel from plant, plant, plant matter is in itself water intensive and polluting. The term renewable, like the term sustainable, can be very misleading. It is my understanding that the life cycles of so-called renewable fuels can be equally or more carbon intensive than the life cycles of fossil fuels. I have seen evidence that zenith voc emissions have been continually increasing since 2019, and will continue to increase after 2027. For example, in 2019 there were 20 tons of vocs coming out of zenith every year. In 2021, 33 tons per year, vocs 2027 projected 39 tons, vocs I have two. I have two questions. Does zenith consider life cycle emissions when it makes claims about emission reduction? And on what evidence do you base the claim that vocs have been or are being reduced at the terminal itself? Thank you. Thank you for the listening session. Thank you for listening to the community. And let's all work on this together moving forward.
74 Kassie cohen. Kassie, we can't hear you. No, we still can't hear you.
75 Why don't we move to.
76 The next one? Why don't you? You might try to call back in. We'll move on to the next person. But when you rejoin, we'll get you connected. Go ahead. Ma'am.
77 Go ahead ma'am.
78 Okay. Good morning or afternoon? I'm katie mcfadden, local resident artist. And thank you for listening to our appeals. I want to start out with a very brief poem or part of the poem by a former poet laureate of, of Oregon, william stafford. The title of it is ask me. I'll listen to what you say. You and I turn and look at the silent river and wait. We know the current is there hidden. And there are comings and goings from miles away that hold the stillness exactly before us. What the river says. That is what I say. Take care of me. Keep it clean. You've heard listings of all kinds of scientific information, of how dangerous a situation we're in with allowing this fossil fuel to come through the city. We need to stop this. We have seen what has happened in los angeles. Portland could easily be next. All you have to do is go down to the zenith site, turn around forrest park is there. Forrest park will not be there. If something goes wrong, please keep a close eye on zenith. Deny them their applications. Be consistent with the comprehensive plan that Portland put forward two years ago. Thank you.
79 Jane terry. Thomas, you. Following thomas, we have catherine fredericks.
80 This is thomas. Yeah.
81 Thank you for being here. Go right ahead.
82 Members of the council. Mayor. Good afternoon. My name is thomas yeo, and I'm from the pacific island of yap, a place where the move to a sustainable future is vital. This mission inspires me deeply. So my journey brought me here in 2016 to attend the university of Portland. Five years later, in 2021, I began my career as an entry level intern at star oil co, working in the transportation department. Just three and a half years later, I am honored to serve as the youngest member of star oil management team, overseeing logistics, safety and training as a family business. Since 1936, our customers have included the city of Portland and hundreds of residents and businesses that rely on diesel to power their operations. What excites me most about my work is the opportunity to tackle big challenges and be a part of the solution to decarbonizing our economy. However, many people are not aware of how fragile our fuel supply chain can be through. Throughout 2024, we experienced supply shortages, shortages of renewable diesel every single month, with disruptions lasting from several days to weeks. These challenges are real, but they also present an opportunity with portland's commitment to a low carbon future. We need solutions to address these shortages and meet the region's renewable fuel standard. By reissuing the land use compatibility statement for the zenith terminal, you empower us to meet the growing demand for renewable fuels and ensure that our businesses and communities have access to the low carbon energy that they need. I am here because I believe in portland's ability to lead in sustainability. Let's work together to give our region the tools it needs to thrive in a low carbon future. Thank you for your time and consideration.
83 Thank you.
84 Let's try cassie cohen again.
85 Hi. Good afternoon. Can you hear me?
86 We can hear you.
87 Great. My name is cassie cohen. I'm a second generation portlander and the director of Portland harbor community coalition. We work in the blast zone with frontline communities facing cumulative impacts from exposures to pollution. The city should not approve this flux, especially with seen as dishonest pattern of operating illegally without a required permit. It's also failed to factually address and identify specific actions. They will take on all the relevant sections of the comprehensive plan, including chapter seven. They and the city will undermine all progress made on natural resource protections. The city is already in violation of floodplain and endangered species, federal mandates and lagging in achieving climate goals. It would risk canceling all progress on the Portland harbor superfund cleanup for going all hope of restoring habitat and wildlife to our river. The city knows that zenith's terminal poses a massive risk to tribes and their treaty rights to access first foods, environmental justice, communities, and the safety to diverse workers with middle wage jobs in the industrial zone who have babies attending daycare in the blast zone. A 2016 Multnomah county study found that oil by rail transport threatens residents, with over a quarter of Multnomah county population living within the half mile evacuation zone around oil transport routes, 108 schools and 100 childcare facilities are within the evacuation zone, and people of color are more likely.
88 To.
89 Within a half mile of a rail line, hold zenith accountable, carry out the full quasi judicial review and investigation, and please, please deny the lux. Thank you.
90 Thank you, cassie, and thank you for calling back in.
91 Next up we have well, it's catherine fredericks. Okay. Next we have carter, olive, william lehman, dave king, followed by laura rogers, anne ruttan and janet tessman. Go ahead. Carter.
92 Hello and thank you. I'm carter olive. It's despicable to prioritize private profit above the well-being of the community. Zenith has been disingenuous about their intentions and actions regarding transport, storage, and use of their products. They've ignored or understated the negative effects on climate change and the safety and well-being of people in Portland and the world. Our society needs to rapidly decrease and eventually end extraction and use of fossil fuel products and all fuels that contribute to climate change. Xena's proposals move us in the opposite direction. This application limits more storage of fossil fuel products, but it increases throughput. Despite claiming that they wouldn't zenith increase throughput of fossil fuel products for six years, with significant risk for climate change and local transport disasters. Proposed tank removals don't decrease storage because the removed tanks are not being currently used. Zenith reserves the right to store anything in existing tanks and to build new tanks for renewables. More renewables would expand their operations, not mitigate damage to community and environment. Their proposals will not decrease greenhouse gas emissions from local transportation. Renewable naphtha makes plastics and solvents with serious risks to health and environment. Naphtha will not decrease local transportation emissions. Increased exports will also not address local problems. Finally, increase production and distribution of all fuel products will only lead to increases in consumption and the risk of transport disasters. You all face difficult choices between economic, safety, health and environmental issues. I urge you to look closely at actual consequences, not just at zenith's claims. Thanks and good luck.
93 William.
94 Congratulations on your election and thank you for scheduling this listening session so that you can hear from the people that you serve. My name is bill layman. I'm in district three and I'll begin my testimony. Governance is based on trust and zenith's application before you today is a test of that trust. Simply put, without the city's exercising due diligence and ferreting out truth from falsehood, the city will have failed that test. Incredibly, this new application steps back. Zenith's previous commitments to adhere to promises it already made to our city. In a close read of zenith's application, it wishes to extend its capacity and reach of transporting and blending more dangerous, flammable fossil fuels. Its application indicates it wants to center Portland as an expanding international energy hub by using the cei hub primarily as an export terminal. The proposal's major flaw is that any expansion occurs in an already highly vulnerable area of our community. This continues to put us and our environment at grave risk for disaster. When disasters such as an earthquake strikes, it will be unparalleled in the scope of its destruction and environmental impacts to the columbia river and to our community. And as a world tension rise, the cei hub is already a huge target for foreign adversaries. Should they decide to strike. When zenith broke its agreement to not build out more infrastructure for its operations, it caught Portland off guard. This clearly points toward zenith's possibility to violate any future commitments. It might make this alone fractured any semblance of trust that zenith may have wished for. Submitting its present application. The science and information before you are clear, approving zenith's current proposal without a deep analysis of what that really means, will bring increased risk to our environment, our community, to our region, and alaska to the world at large. The city of Portland has its work cut out to separate out facts from fiction in current. In zenith's current proposal, pause any approval until that work is done. And thank you for your good work.
95 Dave.
96 Did you say dave?
97 Go ahead.
98 I'm dave king, he him I live in cathedral park, st. Johns I want to talk about the toxic, volatile organic compounds that come from handling fuels in the critical energy hub. We live close to the saint john's bridg, and we have a wonderful view of the bridge itself and the Willamette river. Often like more than 2 or 3 times a week, we smell something similar to crude oil in our yard. Some of that, no doubt comes from zenith. We're happy to hear that EPA has installed monitors around the cei hub. So finally, we have some idea of what is getting in our air and where it's from. So that's really good. Thanks to the EPA. Now, it would be great for the city to install air quality monitors in our neighborhoods so we know what and how much toxic load are we breathing? Our city should be doing monitoring rather than granting the lux so that zenith can generate even more pollution. North and northeast neighborhoods are already exposed to toxic pollution. The Portland comprehensive plan, at 3.3 says development should be guided to reduce disparities. So you're covered. Thank you.
99 Laura.
100 Hi. My name is anne chan and I, along with my co chairman ralph brooks, lead the forest park neighborhood association's firewise team. Firewise started here in Portland after the santiam canyon fire in 2020, which I drove through an hour before they closed the road. And it was an absolutely terrifying experience that has changed my life forever. The overwhelming force of nature is nothing I'd ever seen firsthand before, and I will never forget the huge wind, the orange color of the sky. And at the same time, it was as black as the middle of the night. Which doesn't sound like it goes together, but it does. Years ago, we did not know about the cascadia subduction zone, and now we do. Years ago we did not know about the Portland fault, which runs under the cei hub. And now we do. You know, you cannot turn away from this incredible threat. Zenith should be not grounded in lux for any reason, ever, for ever, in my opinion. But okay. It is so dangerous. It adds danger to that we know exists from earth quakes we know exists from climate change, that the facts that the tank sit on liquefiable land is documented. These are all disasters waiting to happen. And the los angeles fires, we would be like that. An unstoppable fire. And it wouldn't stop at the top of the hill where I live. It would sweep over all of Portland. Please deny them their lux. Thank you.
101 Thank you all for being here today.
102 Laura rogers. Janet tessman joining us online.
103 Hello, I'm janet tessman out of parkrose neighborhood in Portland. In the presentation by zenith, grady reamer said that the usage of jet fuel, like all fuel, is driven by demand for the fuel, that this was out of zenith's control and purely driven by consumers and the overall state of the economy. But last I understood, the fossil fuel industry is subsidized to the tune of trillions of dollars. This is not a choice made freely by the people. It is made in every infrastructure decision that favors the fossil fuel industry over life on earth, you get to make a lot of those decisions on our behalf. I've understood that this particular decision is in the hands of the administration, and I still sent one of those letters out of district one to Loretta Smith, out of parkrose, where one of the priorities of my neighborhood association is jobs. And what I want to hear is not a reiteration of how you can't do anything about it, but reassurance that you will work with the other councilors to update city code, not just to limit how the land is abused, but to use every tool within your reach to bring competitive energy and transportation alternatives. And a Green new deal to Portland. Thank you.
104 Good.
105 Good afternoon, mayor wilson and members of our new city council. My name is laura rogers. I live in the clinton neighborhood in district three. I care deeply about the hazards posed by zenith's activities because my niece and her family live very near the zenith property in zenith energy versus city of Portland. The Oregon land use board of appeals ruled, and the appellate court agreed that a quasi judicial process is required for the review of zenith's request for a land use compatibility statement. That sounded logical when I read it. Then I reviewed zenith's current application for a land use compatibility statement against just one element of the Portland comprehensive plan. I was stunned by the complexity of the issues, and by the lack of supporting information provided by the application. Clearly, luba and the appellate court were correct in their holdings. A public hearing which produces a public record will shift the burden to zenith to be more forthcoming in disclosing its plans and their implications to Portland. I urge you to seize the authority. You have to ask the board of the permitting department to conduct a quasi judicial hearing. You have the authority, luba said. That's the process that needs to be used. Thank you.
106 Next up, we have mark rose, inga fisher williams, christina jenkins, followed by ahmed garcia, rohan spillman and kevin nguyen.
107 Okay.
108 Hi mark rose here. Welcome everybody. Portland district three, member of extinction rebellion and Jewish voice for peace prize recipient, democratic party, pcp speaking. All these problems are connected, right? I mean, the us is using Israel to obliterate gaza. The people, the land, the animals, the air and the water. And the same thing more slowly in the west bank. Okay, you can't be progressive except for Palestine. And you also cannot be progressive except for environmental protection. About anything else, I have to say amplify stuff we've already heard pretty much, and notice how many dimensions the critique has been heard from, and how unanimous it's been. Other than our friend from star oil. Okay, richard plevin was mentioned earlier, a Portland area research scientist and consultant. He's skeptical about biofuels helping us and not making things worse. We've got life cycle studies showing that so-called renewables can be worse than fossil fuels. I think you've heard that in its looks. And this says they plan to expand their throughput there. So any possible reductions in emissions might be more than compensated for by emission increases. Also, can we even trust their claim of an 80% reduction in vocs, given some numbers we heard earlier? And also we're not even sure, you know, that they're using the technology called thermal oxidizers that could explain that. Also, big picture problem. Zenith uses the ap 42 model of industry self-reporting. That's the fox guarding the chicken coop. We need to open up the process to public sessions and real cooperation. Thank you everybody.
109 Inga fisher williams, thank.
110 You for the opportunity.
111 Council and.
112 The staff. Involved in this land.
113 Use decision making.
114 I have followed since for years as they arrived in Portland and bought a small asphalt business in as an industrial permitted use in a fragile river zone that permitted these kinds of uses with that involve fuel dedicated to fishermen, river transportation, and strictly local kinds of exceptions. That's how they came in with a nose under the tent. It is a global corporation that never owns what they ship. They are strictly a facilitator. They do not take title to the goods. They have very limited liability and they have used the small toehold to consistently expand what they do by either clandestine expansion or finding another little wrinkle to apply for another little change. It was clear to me from the beginning that the primary attraction was the dock, the river, access to the ocean, the opportunity to market their stuff globally. And this is their ultimate aim. They are owned by investors who do not give a rip about local conditions or the quality of our river of our community. They look strictly at revenue and income and the city staff is pitched against a very savvy operator who knows how to exploit every potential phrase and every little loophole. I urge you to hire, if you must, qualified people, to find the substantiating arguments required by luba and the state, etc, so you can show what this business is about. We hope that somebody will use the clout that a city should have to enforce.
115 Thank you.
116 Kristina jenkins.
117 Good afternoon, mayor and.
118 City council members. My name is kristina jenkins and I live in Portland. While interning at the Portland harbor community coalition. I'm here today because I care care deeply about our community's health, equity and the environment. I urge you to reject zenith's lux as their operations endanger public health, disproportionately harm communities of color, indigenous native communities, and exacerbate climate change. Zenith's plans to construct new rail car racks and handle highly volatile substances like renewable nafta. Nafta is a flammable hydrocarbon that poses significant risks to respiratory and nervous system health, while worsening our air pollution. Zenith envisions Portland as a renewable fuels hub and plans to offer, and those plans offer minimal benefits to a local to the local portlanders. A 2016 Multnomah county study found that oil by rail transport threatens over a quarter of the county's population. People of color are more likely to live within the zone, highlighting the environmental inequities. Zenith perpetuates. Zenith has failed in moving hazardous substances from their site safely, which threatens our neighborhoods and our waterways. Zenith's proposals also violates the comprehensive plan policies, including policies 7.2 on environmental equity, 7.3 on ecosystem services 7.5, 7.11 and 7.14, which protect air quality and address wildfire hazards and prevent developments that degrade natural health. Natural systems. Portland deserves better. The indigenous communities deserve better. People of color deserve better. My family, my friends and I deserve better than what zenith has planned for us. I ask you to stand with the residents, the tribal communities, and the future generations to prioritize safety, equity, and environmental protection over corporate profits. Thank you.
119 Thank you all very much.
120 Ahmad. Gaia.
121 Good afternoon.
122 Councilors. Mayor wilson.
123 My name is ahmed gaia. I'm a resident in district.
124 Two.
125 And I'm a board member of 350 Portland.
126 Was one of the founders of 350 seattle. And in that role, I have been engaging with this council and several others on the issue of oil trains for the last 13 years. So I was here in these chambers in fall of 2015, when the city passed its resolution officially declaring opposition as binding policy, opposition to oil by rail facilities that would move trains through the city of Portland and requiring their intention of the city to require or urge a comprehensive environmental community health review of any such project. So, ten years later, it's hard to believe that we're still having this same conversation and still engaged in this same fight. The city has very clearly had precedent of pointing out oil by rail as a type of project of particular interest to the city council, and has had in its binding policy prior to the adoption of the current comprehensive plan, a stated opposition of the city to oil by rail projects. And as I said before, that requirement that the city engage in a comprehensive health and environmental review. So I think there's clear precedent for the city to engage in some kind of public process to look closer at this than the regular administrative process, to involve public input. And then also, I think clearly from the testimony we've heard today, from what's been unearthed by deq, etc, to deny a luxe for the zenith terminal. But just one piece of historical context, I worry we've become desensitized to the dangers of oil by rail over the last 13 years. It's important to remember that this is the newest form of transportation. The idea of oil of mile long oil by rail cars are something that only oil by rail trains are. Something that only really came into being in the united states in the last 13 years. And that resolution in 2015 was passed two years after the lac-mégantic disaster and with members from lac-mégantic testifying and speaking to Portland city council. So let's not lose the context that we had in 2015, because we've been fighting.
127 Rowan spellman.
128 Hello.
129 My name is rowan spellman. I'm here with sunrise pdx, and I'm very grateful for the opportunity to speak to you all today. I mean, to start, the fuels that zenith transports are nasty, nasty stuff. And their claims that renewable, to put succinctly, is bunk. I don't need to belabor that at this point. The current operating system puts at risk over a fourth of Multnomah county residents, particularly low income and black and brown communities. Estimates in the event of a catastrophic event at the cei hub, we could not financially recover from this as a city. What we're talking about right now is gambling a fourth of our population and the entire economics of our city. For a texas based oil company. And beyond that, zenith's disregard for our agreements and rules has been insulting. They got caught on their illegal expansion and responded by asking for a free pass. Like, imagine if my partner gambled away our rent money and then responded by asking us to merge our bank accounts like, no, that's not going to happen. And the governance of a municipality should care about the integrity and trust of prior made agreements just as much or more so than I should about my personal relations, for the climate, for the people, for safety, for our environment and our our beautiful lands. What Portland is known for. And, you know, just the integrity and respect of the city itself, the only common sense conclusion is to deny this luxe. Thank you.
130 Kevin nguyen. Kevin. Right. Madam president, that completes testimony. Wow.
131 We had more people not here than we expected. We have a little bit of time left. Scheduled councilors. Does anybody want to broadly respond to what we've heard, or should we give ourselves back and our guests back a little bit of time?
132 Can I ask a quick question? The city attorney.
133 Is it related to the public testimony or is it related to the previous work session? Because we're not in work session right now. So we I think we want to hold things related to the previous work session.
134 Well, I think it's something that the public has asked about repeatedly in their testimony.
135 A clarification piece of that. Mr. Taylor.
136 Thank you. I'll be quick, I appreciate you. I just had a quick clarifying question based on some of the statements we heard in the earlier presentation, but also based on a lot of the repeated testimony that has come up here. So I was hoping, if you could clarify for city council and for the public what councilor Smith had brought up earlier, which is what jurisdiction city council has to address this. If it becomes a quasi judicial thing to debate, and who has the power to do that? So does the mayor and the city administrator. Are they the ones that would decide to make it quasi judicial in order to then put it, you know, give put the ball in our court, so to speak?
137 Thank you, councilor, for the record, robert taylor, city attorney, we we've advised that as things presently stand, that this is an administrative decision for the executive branch to determine whether the luck should be granted or denied, if the city council wanted to treat it as a quasi judicial decision for council to decide, counsel has some options that they could pursue, and I would be happy to discuss those options in a confidential setting.
138 But it sounds like short of action from the mayor or council, this would remain an administrative decision, and action could be taken, though there may be limitations to it that we would need to discuss in an executive session by the mayor or by council to make it a quasi judicial decision. Is that correct? Just the technical, the technical, who does what nature?
139 Yeah. As it as it stands here today, it's an administrative decision for the executive to make. And so if there's no other action by council or the mayor, then it would remain an executive decision.
140 Thank you. Councilor Green. Did you have some wrap up.
141 Thank you, madam president.
142 And thank.
143 You for.
144 Everyone who.
145 Submitted comments today. And thank you to my colleagues for hearing all that. What I have heard loudly today during this public listening session is a desire for a more robust public process and for a sort of airing of the facts of finding or, you know, a finding of facts process and an airing of that into the public process. To that end, I'm I will be working on a resolution to bring forth the investigation of the moments at which the city was involved with the zenith energy, and that will be before this body soon. And that's responsive to what I'm hearing today. Thank you.
146 I think you kept it to the two minutes there. Two like our guests did. Nice work. Councilor Kanal.
147 Yeah.
148 I'll try not to repeat what others have said here. You deserve a public process on this. I think that's something that I did.
149 Not need.
150 To hear testimony to know, but it is. I am grateful for the reinforcement of that from so many people here. That doesn't mean anything necessarily with relation to what the outcome of that will be, but to have an actual open public process is a requirement of good governance. And so I have not heard the details of what those options would be. I look forward to hearing them from the city attorney's office. And I am appreciative for you giving the amount of information you just did. But I think that it's a it's a commitment that I can make, at least at this point, to pursuing a public process. And I think that the amount of time all of you have taken, regardless of your whether you were here in person or online or submitted written testimony to give your input into this, deserves a responsive process from us to allow for co-creation of a decision with our community. Thanks.
151 Thank you all for being here.
152 Madam president. Was up only somehow I'm listed.
153 As adam.
154 I was wondering why adamson was up. Councilor Novick. Go right ahead.
155 So I'm afraid this is a bit off topic, but I can't resist.
156 Asking with this group of folks here.
157 Every gas station is a.
158 Fossil fuel.
159 Terminal, and.
160 I discovered.
161 Recently that a.
162 Number of california.
163 Cities, including.
164 Sacramento, are thinking about.
165 Banning new gas.
166 Stations.
167 Or maybe with.
168 Like sacramento, for example. Is talking.
169 About banning new.
170 Gas stations, unless they also provide 50 kilowatt or greater direct current fast charger electric vehicle charging stations at a ratio of at least 1 to 1 of new gas fuel nozzles. And I was just curious. I haven't really researched this, but how many people here would support such a proposal if someone brought it forward just by show of hands? Thank you.
171 Councilor Ryan.
172 Well, that's fun to follow. I feel like the elephant in the room, so I want to make sure I say something. Yes, I was there and I want to thank councilor Green and councilor Zimmerman for the session. I also appreciate.
173 The recap.
174 By the staff earlier. I know that in 2021. Hello lauren, I did my best to do what I could with my executive authority. I went against the counsel. Advice by legal, the advice by the head of the bureau, and did deny that lux. Then there was the meeting that was on my calendar, along with another commissioner, where we took a meeting with staff at the site, and we listened to what we heard was a reverse in how they would make concessions to become compliant. Clearly, the attitudes, beliefs and values backed by science has changed remarkably over the last decade. On what environmentalists see as the values of renewable fuels, and those have really escalated the last five years. If anyone wants to show me information going back ten years, it's different. Dazzle me. But we had a lot of advice from counsel, from advice from stakeholders that were asking for such concessions not that long ago. That's not my way of being defensive. That's my way of calmly just telling you my experience on the situation. I do think that listening to testimony, there's one thing that becomes really clear and that's decoupling the lux conversation from the very important, grim reality of all hands on deck from the federal, state and local combined to look at how we can be bold and do something about the cei hub. There is a separation and a focus on that. I want to say that I really did appreciate the testimony in that meeting. There was no discussion of aviation fuel and becoming a hub for that. I just want to make that really clear. I would have had a different perception of the meeting if that was the case, and going forward, I just look forward to donnie and the administrative staff, the mayor and your team providing some leadership on the next steps. Unlike in 2021, I don't have that executive authority. I'm on the council now. We're trying to figure out what our next steps are, and getting it out in the open was a really big step today, and I'm grateful to be a part of this journey. I'm a human being, doing the best I can to make sound decisions, to meet, think, to meet everything on the edge, to move stuff forward. What I'll never be a big fan of is inaction and legal entanglement that leads to really, really bad air and no action for another decade. So I did the best I could in 2021 to shake things up. Clearly that worked, and I'm grateful that we're here today. Thank you.
175 Thank you, councilors. Thank you to all of you for being here today. We know that it takes a lot to take time out of your regular schedules to come and share information with us, share your experiences with us, and share data with us that might not otherwise fall into fall onto our desks. We really appreciate it. I want to note that, along with the takeaways that my colleagues have shared, I also heard and ask to make sure that we're looking long term and that we're looking at if council doesn't have a role in this decision, what we can do to ensure that decisions in the future look different. I don't know yet what that looks like, but I have heard that ask today and we'll make sure that that's part of the conversations I have with my colleagues moving forward as well. Thank you all very much. And with that, we are done with today's public comment period and appreciate all of you being here, and we'll look forward to talking to you more in the future.