Tesoro’s LA refinery merger, expansion, & crude oil switch has major impacts in LA, nationally, and internationally.
UPDATES:
Read CBE’s Full Statement on the unanimous decision made by EFSEC to reject the Tesoro-Savage rail-to-ship crude oil terminal . The State of Washington EFSEC (Energy Facility Site Evaluate Council) recommended that the Governor of Washington reject the 360,000 barrel-per-day proposed Tesoro-Savage rail to ship crude oil terminal in Vancouver Washington.
CBE Press Release on Air District’s Approval of Tesoro LARIC Project
See Why We March Video!
Watch the April 29th 2017 People’s Climate March LA on Tesoro!
The Tesoro Los Angeles merger of its Wilmington & former BP Carson refinery next door, plus its expansion and switch to more extreme crude oils increases risks to the already-heavily impacted communities of Wilmington, Carson, and West Long Beach, and will create the largest refinery on the West Coast. This area already has 5 oil refineries, the third largest oil field in the U.S. and extreme diesel emissions due to the Ports of LA & Long Beach nearby.
See CBE Factsheets, Slides and our detailed comments on the Tesoro LARIC Draft Environmental Impact Report: Feb 2017 Factsheet Update, April 2016 Factsheet, Myths & Facts about the Tesoro Merger, March 2017 Webinar Slides, Technical & Legal Comments of June 2016
A recent South Coast Air District joint study with Swedish scientists showed 43 times the benzene and 6.4 times the Volatile Organic Compounds at Tesoro compared to reported emissions. It is only reasonable that such gross errors be fixed before giving Tesoro a permit for the expansion, which includes building 3.4 million barrels of new crude oil tanks, expansions of heaters, boilers, flare systems, and many other hazardous sources. This alone should send the permit back to draft! Also see CBE 1-page decoder of the study (since the study lists as Refinery A, B, C…)
The Air District so far refused to acknowledge Tesoro plans to switch to high benzene, highly explosive North Dakota crude oil to be brought by train to Vancouver Washington (the proposed Tesoro-Savage crude by rail to ship terminal), and then by ship to LA. This is despite Tesoro publicly reporting these plans to investors, and having an active permit application for these activities. Tesoro also plans to bring tar sands crude oil from Canada along the same route. Tesoro is even connecting its North Dakota pipelines to Dakota Access!
In addition to LA impacts, the Tesoro expansion also has national & international impacts. It increases risks to indigenous communities in Canada from tar sands strip mining and in North Dakota where the high benzene crude is extracted by fracking, and increases risks of train explosion and air & water pollution in Washington & Oregon. When these crudes are extracted, they cause high greenhouse gases that hurt the whole planet, and were not evaluated in the EIR.
Letters regarding deficiencies and hazards of the project have been written by Mayors and officials in the Pacific Northwest, Mayor Garcetti of Los Angeles, Mayor Robles of Carson, and Mayor Garcia of Long Beach.
2017 Actions
CALL TO ACTION: Share your disapproval of the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s certification of the final environmental impact report of the Tesoro refinery merger, expansion & crude oil switch.
Join community members on Friday, June 2, 2017 at 9am in Diamond Bar for the South Coast AQMD board hearing where frontline communities will express their disapproval of the certified EIR.
https://www.facebook.com/events/279996362470621
Sign onto our letter directed at South Coast Air Quality Management District
http://www.credomobilize.com/petitions/shame-on-scaqmd
Short link: http://bit.ly/ShameSCAQMD
Updated CBE Factsheet on the AQMD Approval of Tesoro Refinery & Sample Letter for Individuals.
Thanks to all our supporters for joining our #ShameOnSCAQMD Thunderclap on May 30, 2017, for an online protest directed at @SouthCoastAQMD. Short link: http://bit.ly/ShameOnSCAQMD
Use our Social Media Toolkit for sample tweets, post and memes:
#ShameOnSCAQMD Toolkit