February, 04 2016, 11:15am EDT
Hundreds Voice Opposition to SLO Crude Oil Train Plan at Hearings and Demonstration
SAN LUIS OBISPO
The SLO County Planning Board holds hearings today on the controversial proposal to build a crude oil train terminal at the Phillips 66 oil refinery in SLO County. Hundreds of citizens will gather to testified against the proposal and at a rally outside the hearing room to demonstrate opposition to the plan.
Representatives of citizen groups released the following statements:
"San Luis Obispo residents and others living up and down the rail line in California have made their position very clear; of the approximate 24,500 comments received on the project by the county, 99.9% are in opposition." Charles Varni, South County Coordinator and Surfrider Foundation
"The community of San Luis Obispo has stood up and said no to dangerous oil trains set to barrel through our neighborhoods and yes to a renewable energy future that provides the good jobs, clean air and abundant water we all deserve." Heidi Harmon, Director SLO 350.org
"We all owe thanks to County planners for their cogent analysis. Even if proposed mitigations could reduce the project's devastating impacts to an insignificant level, which they can't, the principle of federal preemption won't let the County impose them. There is no legal basis on which to permit the project." Andrew Christie, Director, Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club
"Thousands from across California have said loud and clear that they don't want dangerous oil trains rolling through their communities. Now it's up to the Planning Commission to protect our health and safety and reject the project for good." Valerie Love, Clean Energy Campaigner, Center for Biological Diversity
"The SLO County Board of Supervisors has a big decision to make, but it is an easy decision -- they just need to listen to their own staff experts and say no to Phillips 66. Crude oil trains are simply too dangerous for the rails and the five million Californians who live inside the dangerous blast zone." Ross Hammond, US Campaign Director, ForestEthics
Founded in 2000, ForestEthics is a nonprofit environmental organization with staff in Canada, the United States and Chile. Our mission is to protect Endangered Forests and wild places, wildlife, and human wellbeing--one of our focus areas is climate change, which compromises all of our efforts if left unchecked. We catalyze environmental leadership among industry, governments and communities by running hard-hitting and highly effective campaigns that leverage public dialogue and pressure to achieve our goals.
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