Page 8 * St. Johns Review * #7 April 3, 2015 * Addresses: PO Box 83068, Port., OR 97283 * reviewnewspaper@gmail.com or reviewnewspaper@comcast.net * 503-283-5086 * web: www.stjohnsreview.com
Pembina Update:
Pembina and port pledge $3 million to
community investment fund
Pembina Press Release: March 24, 2015
Pembina Marine Terminals, a sub-
sidiary of Pembina Pipeline Corpo-
ration and the Port of Portland have
announced their intention to create
a community investment fund that
would total $3 million over 10 years,
commencing at the time the terminal
is in full operation.
“Investing in communities where we
operate is one way we provide com-
munity benefi ts,” said Eric Dyck, vice
president for Pembina Marine Termi-
nals. “In Portland, we hope this fund
will make investments that provide
direct benefi ts to the communities
surrounding our facility, as well as
support the City of Portland’s Climate
Action Plan.”
Pembina is proposing a $500 million
propane export facility at the Port of
Portland’s Terminal 6 complex. The
project is estimated to generate up to
800 union construction jobs over two
years, 40 full-time employees who
will be hired locally and $30 million
in annual spending for goods, services
and labor. Pembina has sought no pub-
lic subsidies or tax abatement and is
projected to pay $12 million annually
in property taxes to fund local services
and schools.
Previously, Pembina committed to en-
ter into a Good Neighbor Agreement
and form a community advisory com-
mittee. One role for the community
advisory committee, Dyck said, will
be to recommend how to leverage
the community investment funds that
Pembina and the Port of Portland are
committing.
“The people who know best where
community investments are needed
are the people who live in the com-
munities we touch,” Dyck explained.
“We want their advice, their recom-
mendations on where community
investment dollars should go in their
neighborhoods.”
Because of the nature of the export
facility, Dyck said he appreciates the
need to relate community investments
to climate change action.
Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline
P hoto of the W eek
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Corporation is a leading transporta-
tion and midstream service provider
that has been serving North America’s
energy industry for nearly 60 years.
Pembina owns and operates: pipelines
that transport conventional and syn-
thetic crude oil and natural gas liquids
produced in western Canada; oil sands
and heavy oil and diluent pipelines;
gas gathering and processing facili-
ties; and, an oil and natural gas liquids
infrastructure and logistics business.
A long-awaited
risk assessment
from Pembina
By Barbara Quinn
Cathedral Park Resident &
Community Activist
In spite of declining to share it on
March 9 and 10th at the St. Johns and
Cathedral Park neighborhood meet-
ings, Pembina Pipeline Corporation
fi nally shared a Quantitative Risk
Assessment for their proposed pro-
pane terminal at a hearing on March
10 before the Planning Commission.
The terminal proposal would locate 33
million gallons of propane, a volatile
byproduct of fracked natural gas in St.
Johns.
Only select members of the public
were allowed to testify at the hearing.
Representatives from St. Johns Neigh-
borhood Association and Hayden
Island Neighborhood Network were
chosen due to their location within the
riskiest blast area. Pembina’s vendor,
who created the QRA, drew the risk
zones considerably smaller than the
ones defi ned in a white paper written
by local citizens (Proposed Propane
Marine Terminal in Portland, A. Rox-
burgh, M.Sc, Systems engineering
architect; Ron Ebersol B.S.E.E., Sys-
tem fault/failure engineering architect;
and Timme Helzer Ph.D. Professor
of quantitative & qualitative research
methodologies).
Neighbors felt Pembina’s Risk As-
sessment was selective and limited.
“Their statistics are based on oil rigs
in the North Sea, not propane termi-
nals,” said Ben Poe, St. Johns Neigh-
borhood representative. “They also
use ‘acceptable risk’ statistics from the
UK because the US doesn’t have any”
he continued. Apparently, this is due to
the fact that the few existing propane
terminals have declared their statistics
proprietary and refuse to share them.
Neighbors testifi ed that the Assess-
ment should include the transport of
the volatile fuel. “The primary objec-
tion of neighborhood people is that
the Risk Assessment begins and ends
with the terminal and doesn’t include
rail transport,” said Poe. The company
insists it has no control of the rails.
Besides safety, the issue of climate
change arose at the hearing. When
asked how the proposal fi ts with the
Climate Action Plan for Portland, Poe
said, “In my point of view, it doesn’t
support the ethic of reducing fossil fu-
els. It doesn’t go to the big picture.”
The Commission will vote on April
7 to remove the environmental overlay
zone to allow the terminal or keep the
overlay which would not allow it. The
hearing is open to the public: Tuesday,
April 7, 3pm, at 1900 SW 4th, Room
2500-A. There will be a rally at 2pm.
Sign up for 2-min. testimony starting
at 2:30pm.
All are encouraged to send feed-
back about the proposed propane ter-
minal prior to April 7, to the Planning
and Sustainability Commission: psc@
portlandoregon.gov. Ask your neigh-
borhood association to send a letter:
• Friends of Cathedral Park Neigh-
borhood Assoc. board: fcpnaboard@
gmail.com
• Portsmouth Neighborhood Assoc.:
portsmouthchair@gmail.com
• University Park Neighborhood As-
soc.: UPNA.chair@gmail.com