Mayoral Support or No, Pembina Says It's Coming to North Portland

Portland Mercury:

Canadian energy giant Pembina Pipeline isn't sweating Mayor Charlie Hales' urgings not to bring a $500 million propane terminal to North Portland. Just hours after activists opposing the deal rejoiced over Hales' assurances the project is "not a winner," the company says it will keep on keepin' on. "Pembina Pipeline Corporation reaffirms its plans to proceed towards next steps in the development of its proposed Portland Propane Export Terminal Project," the company wrote in a new statement to media. "The Company was disappointed to learn that Mayor Hales of Portland has withdrawn his support for the Project." The release goes on to re-state Pembina's case for the project, which would be the largest private investment in the city's history. The company says the terminal would be safe (opponents have said the trains carting millions of gallons of propane to the facility could explode with tragic results) and that propane is an environmentally friendly fuel. Hales, in a statement about his newfound opposition, said the company didn't make a case to the public that environmental concerns could be addressed. Pembina also says the Port of Portland, which has so far been mum about Hales' signals, has "reaffirmed its support of Pembina's Project and will continue working with the Company on the proposed terminal." And it closes with this: "Pembina is confident that through the upcoming process with the City of Portland, it will gain support to move forward with next steps in the development of the Project." It's unclear why the company's so confident. Without Hales' support (even with it) there's no sign there are three votes on the Portland City Council to approve a zoning change necessary for the plant to move forward. A call to a Pembina spokesman hasn't been returned. Pembina put password protection on its release, and I'm not able to copy and paste it here. Update Aaaaand here comes the Port of Portland, speaking for itself on the project. The port just released a statement confirming it still wants a propane terminal. "The Port of Portland fully supports Pembina’s continued efforts to site a propane export facility here," the statement says. "The Mayor’s withdrawal of support for the proposed propane terminal at the Port’s Terminal 6 on the Columbia River is surprising and disappointing. It is surprising because, due to the Mayor’s early support, the company has spent $15 million to comply with various city regulations and requirements of the zoning change process. "It is disappointing because loss of an investment of this magnitude means forfeited tax revenue, lost jobs and business opportunity, negative implications for land use and trade policy as well as business recruitment efforts." The port then details its reasons for pushing the project—like millions in tax revenue, hundreds of construction jobs (and 40 permanent jobs), and Pembina's promise to use renewable energy at the sight. It also says cities have no business trying to set their own climate change agendas? "At a broader level, climate change policy is best implemented at the national or state level, not by many municipalities each of which might view the problem differently. If Portland wants to implement a climate change or carbon policy, it should do so uniformly, taking into account all similar activities, not in reaction to a particular development proposal. Climate policy typically addresses local impacts and services, not foreign production or consumption." Good luck with that argument in this town, port! [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

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