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Citizens Turn Out To Learn More About Vancouver Oil Terminal Project

An aerial view of the Port of Vancouver. It's one of several locations in the Northwest where train-to-vessel oil terminala have been proposed.
An aerial view of the Port of Vancouver. It's one of several locations in the Northwest where train-to-vessel oil terminala have been proposed.

About a hundred people attended a community meeting on the Tesoro-Savage oil terminal in Vancouver Monday night.

Tesoro Corporation and Savage Companies have proposed to transport up to 380,000 barrels of crude oil a day through the Port of Vancouver. The Port approved a lease for the project in July.

The companies invited the public to talk with experts on the project design, crude oil science, oil spill response, rail transportation safety, and the port facilities.

Vancouver resident Gary Bock attended the event. He says he hasn't decided whether he supports project and came to ask some questions.

"Will it really be 120 jobs? Will it really be good jobs? Are the people who work for these companies happy and are they meaningful, active members of the community?," he said, listing some of the questions on his mind. "Or are they miserable unhappy people with crappy jobs?"

The project is one of several proposed in the Northwest that would transfer oil delivered by train from North Dakota to ships bound for West Coast refineries. It would be the biggest in the Northwest.

The project still needs a number of permits from the state of Washington and approval from the governor before it can move forward. The company submitted its application for those permits in late August. The application started a one-year permitting timeline.

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