This blog is dedicated to reverse an attempt to rezone 836 acres of Prime agricultural land in Clatskanie, Oregon to Rural Industrial.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Monday, October 28, 2013
VIDEO: OPB VOICES OF COAL
Portland Activist Uses Her Art To Protest Coal Export Terminals
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Letter To Senator Johnson
Dear Ms. Johnson,
Dear Ms. Johnson,
My husband and I have a farm not far from the proposed Port Westward rezoning. We oppose it vehemently. The Port of St. Helens has failed to establish that that an "energy" hub including coal and oil would be monitored well enough to allow farming to continue unharmed, not to mention the devastation of 2 miles of riparian wildlife habitat along our beloved Columbia River. The expanded traffic would destroy small towns and businesses all along the proposed route.
Many of us who are in opposition to the rezoning and development of an industrial terminal at Port Westward were disappointed that you did not attend the hearing on October 3, 2013 at Clatskanie Middle/High School. We would have liked for you to hear our thoughts and perhaps taken some of our concerns into consideration.
There were many issues brought up that need adequate addressing before, if ever, the opponents feel comfortable with the rezoning plan.
Fortunately, the testimony was videotaped. Please take a moment to view the following testimony by local farmer Scott MacGregor.
There will be more testimony to come as it becomes available.
Thank you for your kind attention to this issue.
Tracy Prescott-MacGregor
Saturday, October 26, 2013
EVERY STEP BACKWARD MAKES THE JOURNEY LONGER...
(Special Thanks to Dawn Smallman and Greg Snider for videotaping, Directing and editing these videos. We are incredibly fortunate to have them lending their immense talent to this project.)
Thursday, October 24, 2013
"Jack D. Forbes, Prof of Native American Studies at the University of California, he said-in our language, we have this word 'Wetico' which means cannibal. One who eats, not literally the flesh of another, but who eats the life of another. And he said that we
very quickly realized when you people came from Europe, that you were infected with 'Wetico', that it’s a mental illness."
-Thom Hartmann (quoted from the documentary by Tom Shadyac called "I Am")
very quickly realized when you people came from Europe, that you were infected with 'Wetico', that it’s a mental illness."
-Thom Hartmann (quoted from the documentary by Tom Shadyac called "I Am")
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
I see no glory in selling coal to Asia no matter how many jobs it produces. Do we really want to be part of this?
China: Smog Chokes Chinese Manchuria, as Overpopulated Asian Giant Burns Coal
Please click on link below to see and read more!
http://www.webpronews.com/china-smog-chokes-chinese-manchuria-as-overpopulated-asian-giant-burns-coal-2013-10
Sunday, October 20, 2013
INSANE QUEST FOR INDUSTRIAL LAND RE-ZONING HAS LEAD PORTLAND TO START EYEING GOLF COURSES!
To read this article click the link below!
http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/198049-city-plan-tees-up-golf-courses-for-industries
State industrial land mandates force Portland to 'scrounge' sites
To read this article click the link below!
http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/198049-city-plan-tees-up-golf-courses-for-industries
5 Things YOU can do to stop the Rezoning of Port Westward from Prime Agricultural to Rural Industrial!
Even if you do ONE thing you will have done a lot.
1. TALK! Talk to your friends and neighbors! Make them aware of the issue and that there are two sides to this story. You don't have to argue if they don't agree...just make them aware.
2. CONTACT! Write a letter or call your Senators and Representatives! Let them know you do not want fossil fuels shipped by rail dividing your communities and damaging your quality of life! Write a letter to the opinion section of your local paper. Elected officials read these sections to gauge public sentiment!
3. SIGN! Sign our petition! Start one of your own directed to elected officials making decisions about our communities that you disagree with!
4. TESTIFY! Attend hearings and Commission meetings open to the public. Speak your mind whenever you get the opportunity! We need to make our voices heard or the decision makers will follow the money. It takes a lot of small public voices to overcome the lure of Fortune 500 donations!
5. ENCOURAGE! Spread the word and encourage others to act! Communication is critical. Join discussion groups. Keep yourself well-informed so that you can be a conduit for updates!
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME WITH MORE IDEAS. I'M SURE THIS LIST COULD EASILY GROW TO 10!
Even if you do ONE thing you will have done a lot.
1. TALK! Talk to your friends and neighbors! Make them aware of the issue and that there are two sides to this story. You don't have to argue if they don't agree...just make them aware.
2. CONTACT! Write a letter or call your Senators and Representatives! Let them know you do not want fossil fuels shipped by rail dividing your communities and damaging your quality of life! Write a letter to the opinion section of your local paper. Elected officials read these sections to gauge public sentiment!
3. SIGN! Sign our petition! Start one of your own directed to elected officials making decisions about our communities that you disagree with!
4. TESTIFY! Attend hearings and Commission meetings open to the public. Speak your mind whenever you get the opportunity! We need to make our voices heard or the decision makers will follow the money. It takes a lot of small public voices to overcome the lure of Fortune 500 donations!
5. ENCOURAGE! Spread the word and encourage others to act! Communication is critical. Join discussion groups. Keep yourself well-informed so that you can be a conduit for updates!
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME WITH MORE IDEAS. I'M SURE THIS LIST COULD EASILY GROW TO 10!
Friday, October 18, 2013
(I am pretty sure when they say "energy" they are not talking about wind mills and solar panels...)
Representative Brad Witt quoted in the October 17, 2013
Clatskanie Chief
“We have the potential of Port Westward becoming energy central,” Witt continued. “Not only locally, but for the entire Pacific Northwest. We have a deep water port on one of the largest rivers in the world with tremendous access to ports throughout the Pacific Rim and beyond. I can’t understand for the life of me, why this isn’t a booming energy campus already. The potential is there.”
Senator Betsy Johnson quoted in the October 17, 2013 Clatskanie Chief
“We have an opportunity with a Fortune 500 company (Global Partners) having purchased the ethanol plant to be a world center for energy,” Johnson continued. “Other interests are looking. This is a very big deal!”
See full article here
http://www.clatskaniechiefnews.com/2013/10/
Representative Brad Witt quoted in the October 17, 2013
Clatskanie Chief
“We have the potential of Port Westward becoming energy central,” Witt continued. “Not only locally, but for the entire Pacific Northwest. We have a deep water port on one of the largest rivers in the world with tremendous access to ports throughout the Pacific Rim and beyond. I can’t understand for the life of me, why this isn’t a booming energy campus already. The potential is there.”
Senator Betsy Johnson quoted in the October 17, 2013 Clatskanie Chief
“We have an opportunity with a Fortune 500 company (Global Partners) having purchased the ethanol plant to be a world center for energy,” Johnson continued. “Other interests are looking. This is a very big deal!”
See full article here
http://www.clatskaniechiefnews.com/2013/10/
Monday, October 14, 2013
Compelling Letter Sent to Commissioners by Ivan Maluski of FRIENDS of FAMILY FARMERS
Please find attached and below comments from Friends of Family Farmers in opposition to the proposed rezoning of nearly 1000 acres of agricultural land to industrial uses by the Port of St. Helens at Port Westward.
Testimony in Opposition to the Port of St. Helens Proposal to Zone Farmland for Industrial Development
October 9, 2013
Attn: Jan Greenhalgh, Custodian of Records, Columbia County, Oregon
Dear Commission Members:
Friends of Family Farmers is Oregon’s largest sustainable agriculture advocacy organization, promoting policies that enable family farmers to be successful. We respectfully urge the Columbia County Board of Commissioners to deny the request by the Port of St. Helens to rezone nearly 1000 acres of agricultural land for industrial uses at Port Westward. We understand that the County’s Planning Commission recommended denial of this rezoning application, and we urge you to do so. Protecting farmland and the economic viability of existing family farms is too important to allow the expansion of the Port’s industrial development areas.
We are specifically concerned about a potential and inappropriate declaration of this rezoned area as a ‘regionally significant industrial site’ under the auspices of SB 766, which would limit the public’s ability to review any new development projects, while prohibiting public hearings and appeals to the Land Use Board of Appeals.
Additionally, we have the following concerns:
Rezoning farmland for industrial development will not only threaten farmland and the economic viability of existing family farms in the area, it will likely increase rail and road traffic, which will also impact farm operations.
This rezoning appears at least partially intended to pave the way for coal export proposals that could threaten nearby farms with harmful coal dust and toxic materials associated with coal handling, storage and transport operations. This could impact water quality, the viability of farm crops and soil, and ultimately, the health of farm families and rural residents in the area. Non-specific ‘controls’ and monitoring for dust and water pollution is not enough to protect productive farmland, water quality and rural residents. Only protecting this farmland from development and denying this rezoning application will accomplish that.
The Port’s proposal will eliminate over 600 acres of highly productive farmland that should be protected. Such development will have negative economic impacts on Columbia County’s family farmers, its agricultural sector, and the related businesses that depend on it.
The majority of the existing Port Westward industrial area is currently undeveloped. Before proposing to rezone undeveloped farmland, putting the economic viability of many farm families at risk, the Port should utilize existing industrial-zoned land. Once farmland is developed, it will be lost forever.
Thank you for your consideration of these comments. Again, we urge you to deny the Port of St. Helens rezoning request at Port Westward.
Please find attached and below comments from Friends of Family Farmers in opposition to the proposed rezoning of nearly 1000 acres of agricultural land to industrial uses by the Port of St. Helens at Port Westward.
Testimony in Opposition to the Port of St. Helens Proposal to Zone Farmland for Industrial Development
October 9, 2013
Attn: Jan Greenhalgh, Custodian of Records, Columbia County, Oregon
Dear Commission Members:
Friends of Family Farmers is Oregon’s largest sustainable agriculture advocacy organization, promoting policies that enable family farmers to be successful. We respectfully urge the Columbia County Board of Commissioners to deny the request by the Port of St. Helens to rezone nearly 1000 acres of agricultural land for industrial uses at Port Westward. We understand that the County’s Planning Commission recommended denial of this rezoning application, and we urge you to do so. Protecting farmland and the economic viability of existing family farms is too important to allow the expansion of the Port’s industrial development areas.
We are specifically concerned about a potential and inappropriate declaration of this rezoned area as a ‘regionally significant industrial site’ under the auspices of SB 766, which would limit the public’s ability to review any new development projects, while prohibiting public hearings and appeals to the Land Use Board of Appeals.
Additionally, we have the following concerns:
Rezoning farmland for industrial development will not only threaten farmland and the economic viability of existing family farms in the area, it will likely increase rail and road traffic, which will also impact farm operations.
This rezoning appears at least partially intended to pave the way for coal export proposals that could threaten nearby farms with harmful coal dust and toxic materials associated with coal handling, storage and transport operations. This could impact water quality, the viability of farm crops and soil, and ultimately, the health of farm families and rural residents in the area. Non-specific ‘controls’ and monitoring for dust and water pollution is not enough to protect productive farmland, water quality and rural residents. Only protecting this farmland from development and denying this rezoning application will accomplish that.
The Port’s proposal will eliminate over 600 acres of highly productive farmland that should be protected. Such development will have negative economic impacts on Columbia County’s family farmers, its agricultural sector, and the related businesses that depend on it.
The majority of the existing Port Westward industrial area is currently undeveloped. Before proposing to rezone undeveloped farmland, putting the economic viability of many farm families at risk, the Port should utilize existing industrial-zoned land. Once farmland is developed, it will be lost forever.
Thank you for your consideration of these comments. Again, we urge you to deny the Port of St. Helens rezoning request at Port Westward.
Article by Jude Noland in Clearing Up
[9.2] Opponents Petition Columbia County on
Port Rezone Application
Some residents of Columbia County, Ore., have
mounted a petition drive to ask the Columbia County
Commission to vote no on the Port of St. Helens’
application
to rezone about 1,000 acres of land near
Port Westward from prime agricultural to rural industrial.
Tracy Prescott-MacGregor, who owns a small farm
near the property proposed for rezoning, planned to present
the petition to the commissioners at an Oct. 3 public
hearing on the proposal. She had collected more than
500 signatures as of that afternoon.
The rezoning is “contrary to the spirit of Oregon’s
land use laws” and “paves the way for allowing transfer
of hazardous materials without public input,” Prescott-
MacGregor says on the petition website.
Prescott-MacGregor started the petition drive because
she feels “hopeless against this enormous pressure that’s
happening all along the Columbia River” for industrial
development, especially coal-export terminals.
The coal project proposed for the Port’s property,
however, would not be affected by the proposed rezone.
Ambre Energy’s $242-million Morrow Pacific Project
would be sited on property already zoned industrial. It
includes construction of a new coal-handling facility near
Boardman, to receive and transfer rail-shipped coal to
barges that would move it to the Port Westward Industrial
Park near Clatskanie, for export via ocean-going vessels.
“I’m aware there are folks opposed to the rezoning,”
especially due to concerns about coal-export facilities,
said Port of St. Helens Executive Director Patrick Trapp.
“But this rezoning application has nothing to do with
these projects.” Only part of Port Westward is zoned
industrial, he said, and the Port is now in a position to
rezone about 760 acres it purchased in 2010, “to take
advantage of other opportunities—not necessarily projects,
but to expand our industrial zone.”
“What they are trying to do, from what I’m watching,
is to rezone and then use Senate Bill 766 to pretty much
expedite whatever they want to get in there,” Prescott-
MacGregor said. Passed by the 2011 Oregon Legislature,
SB 766 expedites certification of industrial sites and calls
for designating 10 to 15 strategic industrial sites statewide.
Rezoning the port property isn’t the same as
designating
it as a strategic industrial site, said Trapp.
The rezone is up to the county; the port would have to
apply to the state for strategic site designation, and has
held off doing so. “Whatever the results of the rezoning,
that’s just a step in looking at our future as a foundation
for economic development.”
Commissioners were not scheduled to vote on the
rezone during the Oct. 3 meeting [J. N].
[9.2] Opponents Petition Columbia County on
Port Rezone Application
Some residents of Columbia County, Ore., have
mounted a petition drive to ask the Columbia County
Commission to vote no on the Port of St. Helens’
application
to rezone about 1,000 acres of land near
Port Westward from prime agricultural to rural industrial.
Tracy Prescott-MacGregor, who owns a small farm
near the property proposed for rezoning, planned to present
the petition to the commissioners at an Oct. 3 public
hearing on the proposal. She had collected more than
500 signatures as of that afternoon.
The rezoning is “contrary to the spirit of Oregon’s
land use laws” and “paves the way for allowing transfer
of hazardous materials without public input,” Prescott-
MacGregor says on the petition website.
Prescott-MacGregor started the petition drive because
she feels “hopeless against this enormous pressure that’s
happening all along the Columbia River” for industrial
development, especially coal-export terminals.
The coal project proposed for the Port’s property,
however, would not be affected by the proposed rezone.
Ambre Energy’s $242-million Morrow Pacific Project
would be sited on property already zoned industrial. It
includes construction of a new coal-handling facility near
Boardman, to receive and transfer rail-shipped coal to
barges that would move it to the Port Westward Industrial
Park near Clatskanie, for export via ocean-going vessels.
“I’m aware there are folks opposed to the rezoning,”
especially due to concerns about coal-export facilities,
said Port of St. Helens Executive Director Patrick Trapp.
“But this rezoning application has nothing to do with
these projects.” Only part of Port Westward is zoned
industrial, he said, and the Port is now in a position to
rezone about 760 acres it purchased in 2010, “to take
advantage of other opportunities—not necessarily projects,
but to expand our industrial zone.”
“What they are trying to do, from what I’m watching,
is to rezone and then use Senate Bill 766 to pretty much
expedite whatever they want to get in there,” Prescott-
MacGregor said. Passed by the 2011 Oregon Legislature,
SB 766 expedites certification of industrial sites and calls
for designating 10 to 15 strategic industrial sites statewide.
Rezoning the port property isn’t the same as
designating
it as a strategic industrial site, said Trapp.
The rezone is up to the county; the port would have to
apply to the state for strategic site designation, and has
held off doing so. “Whatever the results of the rezoning,
that’s just a step in looking at our future as a foundation
for economic development.”
Commissioners were not scheduled to vote on the
rezone during the Oct. 3 meeting [J. N].
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
THIRD SESSION OF PORT WESTWARD REZONING HEARING SET OCT. 9
(Scroll to 3rd article down.)
(Also of interest relating to rail traffic issues read the second article down.)
City of Rainier Rail Safety Funds Promised
(Also of interest relating to rail traffic issues read the second article down.)
City of Rainier Rail Safety Funds Promised
http://www.clatskaniechiefnews.com/2013/10/09/october-10-2013-6/
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Major victory: Clatsop County denies the Oregon LNG pipeline application
Commissioners Vote to Reject Oregon LNG Pipeline
http://columbiariverkeeper.org/featured/major-victory-clatsop-county-denies-the-oregon-lng-pipeline-application/
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
If Port Westward gets re-zoned for Rural Industrial, rail lines laid and concreted in-then coal loses it's momentum there may be something even uglier waiting to be shipped!
Coal Giant's Financials Reveal Export Weakness
http://www.kplu.org/post/coal-giants-financials-reveal-export-weakness
U.S. Coal Companies Scale Back Export Goals
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/business/energy-environment/us-coal-companies-scale-back-export-goals.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Case in point...The "Green" Ethanol Plant turned crude oil terminal and there are plans for more crude oil trains in the works.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/23/vancouver-washington-oil-train-terminal_n_3641250.html
Oil mislabeled: Crude oil mislabeled in July’s Quebec train wreck that killed 47
http://www.examiner.com/article/oil-mislabeled-crude-oil-mislabeled-july-s-quebec-train-wreck-that-killed-47
Hello Friends,
We a have a bit more time to submit testimony in opposition. The Columbia County Commission listened to dozens of compelling opposing opinions at the Thursday October 3rd hearing. Thank you to all of you who showed up at Clatskanie Middle/High School in opposition of the rezoning and kudos to those of you who chose to speak! The record will be open for 7 more days from the October 3rd hearing...so until the 10th at least.
There was not enough time for the Applicant (Port of St. Helens) to rebut so another hearing is scheduled for October 9th at 6:30 pm at the Clatskanie Middle/High School auditorium, 471 Bel Air Dr, Clatskanie, OR 97016.
You can email written testimony to Jan.Greenhalgh@co.columbia.or.us
We also have 633 signatures on our petition at this writing and the list is still growing! sign here!
HELP THE SIERRA CLUB SAY "NO" TO A COAL TERMINAL IN LONGVIEW, WASHINGTON!
Sign the Petition under TAKE ACTION and Protect the Northwest from the dangerous coal terminal proposal at Longview!
http://content.sierraclub.org/coal/oregon
Sign the Petition under TAKE ACTION and Protect the Northwest from the dangerous coal terminal proposal at Longview!
http://content.sierraclub.org/coal/oregon
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Governor's rep tours county's rail corridor
http://portlandtribune.com/scs/83-news/196826-governors-rep-tours-countys-rail-corridor
Vote "NO" to Rezoning Port Westward on the Chronicle's Opinion Poll.
http://www.thechronicleonline.com/poll_08490d20-20db-11e3-8dd3-0019bb2963f4.html
http://www.thechronicleonline.com/poll_08490d20-20db-11e3-8dd3-0019bb2963f4.html
Equal Representation?
One of our astute petition signers noticed that Representative Brad Witt and Senator Betsy Johnson showed up for the proponents testimony on September 18 but failed to be present last week at the opponents opportunity to testify on October 3rd!
Please take a moment to contact their offices to express your disappointment in them for failing to hear the opposing views to the re-zoning of Port Westward in Clatskanie! Don't forget to mention your opposition to the re-zoning plan.
One of our astute petition signers noticed that Representative Brad Witt and Senator Betsy Johnson showed up for the proponents testimony on September 18 but failed to be present last week at the opponents opportunity to testify on October 3rd!
Please take a moment to contact their offices to express your disappointment in them for failing to hear the opposing views to the re-zoning of Port Westward in Clatskanie! Don't forget to mention your opposition to the re-zoning plan.
Representative Brad Witt:
Democrat - District 1 - Clatskanie
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1431
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-374, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.BradWitt@state.or.us
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Democrat - District 1 - Clatskanie
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1431
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-374, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.BradWitt@state.or.us
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senator Betsy Johnson
Democrat - District 16 – Scappoose
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1716
District Phone: 503-543-4046Capitol
Address: 900 Court St. NE, S-209, Salem, Oregon 97301
District Address: PO Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056
Email: Sen.BetsyJohnson@state.or.us
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1716
District Phone: 503-543-4046Capitol
Address: 900 Court St. NE, S-209, Salem, Oregon 97301
District Address: PO Box R, Scappoose, OR 97056
Email: Sen.BetsyJohnson@state.or.us
Thank you all again for taking this valuable time out of your day to pursue this issue!
Opponents of Port Westward expansion have their say at Clatskanie hearing
http://portlandtribune.com/scs/83-news/196807-opponents-of-port-westward-expansion-have-their-say-at-clatskanie-hearing
Planning Commission opposes Port Westward expansion
Columbia River Keepers Fact Sheet and Impact Statement.
Doubling the Size of Port Westward: A Bad Deal for Families & Farms in Columbia County
To submit a comment, email your testimony to Jan.Greenhalgh@co.columbia.or.us.
What is proposed?
The Port of St. Helens—the same Port that bent over backwards courting coal export companies—is asking Columbia County to change its Comprehensive Plan to allow large-scale industrial development on nearly 1,000 acres of land that is currently protected for agriculture. This is a significant change for residents who value living in a rural area and people who farm near the proposed expansion. While the Port now insists that its rezoning plans are unrelated to coal, the Port’s application clearly raises the potential for added coal and oil trains through our communities. After all, the Port hoped to bring Kinder Morgan’s coal terminal to the same area.
The Port’s attempt to double its industrial land could have sweeping consequences for the County:
The rezoning of nearly 1,000 acres of valuable farm and riparian land at Port Westward will harm farmers, potentially ruining their businesses.
The Port will seek to designate its newly zoned land as a “regionally significant industrial site.” This will severely limit the public’s ability to review or challenge new industrial activities – such as coal exports, oil exports, or oil refining – at the Port Westward site.
Unit train traffic through Columbia County communities will likely increase. The Port touts its access to rail as the reason why the rezoning request should be allowed.
In June, the Columbia County Planning Commission voted overwhelmingly – by a 5 to 1 margin – to reject the Port’s request. The Planning Commission reasoned that the impact to local farmers and the area’s transportation system should not be allowed, particularly when most of the Port’s existing industrial land remains undeveloped. Now, County staff have essentially ignored this recommendation, and instead provided a staff report that supports the rezoning request. The staff’s approach subverts the process, ignoring the public testimony and thoughtful reasoning that led the Planning Commission to recommend denial.
Discussion Points for Testimony to the Columbia County Commission:
The Board of Commissioners should deny the rezone request, following the example set by the County’s Planning Commission, who recommended denial of the rezoning application. The Planning Commission decided that protecting farmland was too important to allow the expansion of the Port’s industrial plans.
Making a mockery of the process, the County’s staff report basically ignores the recommendations and reasoning of their own Planning Commission, instead supplanting the Planning Commission’s conclusions with the applicant’s reasoning.
This is outrageous, and it ignores hours of public input and the Planning Commission’s deliberations.
Approving the rezone will reduce the community’s ability to give input about future developments at Port Westward. If the rezone is approved, the Port will seek to establish the area as a “regionally significant industrial” site. Under the rules established by Senate Bill 766, once the area is a regionally significant industrial site, the public’s ability to review any new project will be severely limited, prohibiting any public hearing or any appeal to the Land Use Board of Appeals.
Rezoning farmland for industrial development will increase rail and road traffic. The Port’s application doesn’t hide the ball: it wants to double the size of Port Westward to take advantage of rail access.
The Port has provided no detailed plans to deal with transportation impacts to Columbia County, particularly from unit train traffic, which would divide St. Helens, Scappoose, and Rainier in half. The staff report and Port application do not attempt to address the impact to the rest of Columbia County from potential unit trains.
The proposal paves the way for dirty energy projects. (Here are the facts: In January 2012, the Port signed a lease option agreement with Kinder Morgan to export coal. In May, Kinder Morgan withdrew, citing a lack of space. The Port now seeks to rezone a large section of agricultural land with river access for industrial use. The Port’s rezoning application states explicitly that potential future uses include coal export.)
Coal dust, industrial water pollution, and diesel emissions from trains and trucks contain toxic pollution, including arsenic, mercury, and lead. For farmers, landowners, and communities along the rail line, this pollution is more than a nuisance – it’s a public health issue. The staff report recommends weak conditions for “controls” and “monitoring” of dust and water pollution. The only adequate protection is to leave the land as it is – protected, productive farmland.
The County should protect high quality farmland. Many people live in Columbia County because they value living in a rural area and support our local farmers. The Port’s proposal would eliminate over 600 acres of productive farmland. While the Port likes to talk about “jobs,” this rezone is not about more jobs: the Port’s own application acknowledges the type of development it wants to attract is not labor intensive.
The majority of the existing Port Westward industrial site is undeveloped. The Port should work harder to use it first before gobbling up more farmland. Why pave over productive farmland when the majority of the existing Port Westward site is empty?
For more information, visit columbiariverkeeper.org, cleancolumbiacounty.info, or contact: Dan Serres at dan@columbiariverkeeper.org, (503) 890-2441.
Submit comments to Columbia County to: Jan.Greenhalgh@co.columbia.or.us.
1,000 Friends of Oregon Responds to Use of SB 766 in The Case of Port Westward Clatskanie
http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/pages/rules/oars_600/oar_660/660_004.html
Doubling the Size of Port Westward: A Bad Deal for Families & Farms in Columbia County
To submit a comment, email your testimony to Jan.Greenhalgh@co.columbia.or.us.
What is proposed?
The Port of St. Helens—the same Port that bent over backwards courting coal export companies—is asking Columbia County to change its Comprehensive Plan to allow large-scale industrial development on nearly 1,000 acres of land that is currently protected for agriculture. This is a significant change for residents who value living in a rural area and people who farm near the proposed expansion. While the Port now insists that its rezoning plans are unrelated to coal, the Port’s application clearly raises the potential for added coal and oil trains through our communities. After all, the Port hoped to bring Kinder Morgan’s coal terminal to the same area.
The Port’s attempt to double its industrial land could have sweeping consequences for the County:
The rezoning of nearly 1,000 acres of valuable farm and riparian land at Port Westward will harm farmers, potentially ruining their businesses.
The Port will seek to designate its newly zoned land as a “regionally significant industrial site.” This will severely limit the public’s ability to review or challenge new industrial activities – such as coal exports, oil exports, or oil refining – at the Port Westward site.
Unit train traffic through Columbia County communities will likely increase. The Port touts its access to rail as the reason why the rezoning request should be allowed.
In June, the Columbia County Planning Commission voted overwhelmingly – by a 5 to 1 margin – to reject the Port’s request. The Planning Commission reasoned that the impact to local farmers and the area’s transportation system should not be allowed, particularly when most of the Port’s existing industrial land remains undeveloped. Now, County staff have essentially ignored this recommendation, and instead provided a staff report that supports the rezoning request. The staff’s approach subverts the process, ignoring the public testimony and thoughtful reasoning that led the Planning Commission to recommend denial.
Discussion Points for Testimony to the Columbia County Commission:
The Board of Commissioners should deny the rezone request, following the example set by the County’s Planning Commission, who recommended denial of the rezoning application. The Planning Commission decided that protecting farmland was too important to allow the expansion of the Port’s industrial plans.
Making a mockery of the process, the County’s staff report basically ignores the recommendations and reasoning of their own Planning Commission, instead supplanting the Planning Commission’s conclusions with the applicant’s reasoning.
This is outrageous, and it ignores hours of public input and the Planning Commission’s deliberations.
Approving the rezone will reduce the community’s ability to give input about future developments at Port Westward. If the rezone is approved, the Port will seek to establish the area as a “regionally significant industrial” site. Under the rules established by Senate Bill 766, once the area is a regionally significant industrial site, the public’s ability to review any new project will be severely limited, prohibiting any public hearing or any appeal to the Land Use Board of Appeals.
Rezoning farmland for industrial development will increase rail and road traffic. The Port’s application doesn’t hide the ball: it wants to double the size of Port Westward to take advantage of rail access.
The Port has provided no detailed plans to deal with transportation impacts to Columbia County, particularly from unit train traffic, which would divide St. Helens, Scappoose, and Rainier in half. The staff report and Port application do not attempt to address the impact to the rest of Columbia County from potential unit trains.
The proposal paves the way for dirty energy projects. (Here are the facts: In January 2012, the Port signed a lease option agreement with Kinder Morgan to export coal. In May, Kinder Morgan withdrew, citing a lack of space. The Port now seeks to rezone a large section of agricultural land with river access for industrial use. The Port’s rezoning application states explicitly that potential future uses include coal export.)
Coal dust, industrial water pollution, and diesel emissions from trains and trucks contain toxic pollution, including arsenic, mercury, and lead. For farmers, landowners, and communities along the rail line, this pollution is more than a nuisance – it’s a public health issue. The staff report recommends weak conditions for “controls” and “monitoring” of dust and water pollution. The only adequate protection is to leave the land as it is – protected, productive farmland.
The County should protect high quality farmland. Many people live in Columbia County because they value living in a rural area and support our local farmers. The Port’s proposal would eliminate over 600 acres of productive farmland. While the Port likes to talk about “jobs,” this rezone is not about more jobs: the Port’s own application acknowledges the type of development it wants to attract is not labor intensive.
The majority of the existing Port Westward industrial site is undeveloped. The Port should work harder to use it first before gobbling up more farmland. Why pave over productive farmland when the majority of the existing Port Westward site is empty?
For more information, visit columbiariverkeeper.org, cleancolumbiacounty.info, or contact: Dan Serres at dan@columbiariverkeeper.org, (503) 890-2441.
Submit comments to Columbia County to: Jan.Greenhalgh@co.columbia.or.us.
1,000 Friends of Oregon Responds to Use of SB 766 in The Case of Port Westward Clatskanie
133 SW Second Ave, Suite 201 • Portland, OR 97204 • (503) 497-1000 • fax (503) 223-0073 • www.friends.org
Southern Oregon Office • PO Box 2442 • Grants Pass, OR 97528 • (541) 474-1155 • fax (541) 474-9389
Willamette Valley Office • PO Box 51252 • Eugene, OR 97405 • (541) 520-3763 • fax (503) 223-0073
Central Oregon Office • 115 NW Oregon Ave #21 • Bend, OR 97701 • (541) 719-8221 • fax (866) 394-3089
Columbia County Planning Commission
Columbia County Land Development Services/Planning Division
230 Strand Street
St. Helens, OR 97051
May 29, 2013
RE: Comments on the Port of St. Helens’ Application for Comprehensive Plan
Map and Text Amendment and Zone Change to Reclassify and Rezone
Property from PA-80 to RIPD; Goal 2 Exception to Goal 3; File No. PA 12-
02 & ZC 13-01
Dear Chairman Letourneau and Planning Commissioners:
Thank you for this opportunity to present comments opposing the subject application. 1000 Friends of Oregon is a nonprofit, membership organization that works with Oregonians to support livable urban and rural communities, protect family farms and forests, and provide transportation and housing choice.
Agriculture is Oregon's second largest industry: 1 out of 8 jobs in this state is agriculture-related, and the industry is directly and indirectly linked to about $22 billion in sales of goods and services, accounting for 15% of the statewide total of sales involving all industry sectors. Agriculture is traded-sector – 80% is sold out of state with 40% exported out of the country, bringing new dollars into Oregon. And those figures have been increasing almost steadily for two decades, which is not a story any other industry can tell.
1000 Friends of Oregon believes that agricultural land should stay in agricultural use to support Oregon’s second largest industry. Over $26 million worth of agricultural products are produced in Columbia County and the backbone of the farming economy in the County is the fine soils found along the Columbia River including the excellent soils found on this site. In its testimony, Columbia Riverkeeper has done an excellent job of laying out the legal basis for denying this application. We ask that you deny the application based upon policy and the law.
Also, please note that SB 766 does not authorize, encourage, or expedite rezones to industrial. It merely provides expedited opportunities for development of lands already zoned industrial.
For the reasons above, 1000 Friends of Oregon opposes the comprehensive plan amendment proposed by the Port.
Respectfully submitted,
Steven D. McCoy
Farm and Forest Staff Attorney
DLCD Farmland Protection Program
http://www.oregon.gov/LCD/Pages/farmprotprog.aspx
EXEPTIONS
Southern Oregon Office • PO Box 2442 • Grants Pass, OR 97528 • (541) 474-1155 • fax (541) 474-9389
Willamette Valley Office • PO Box 51252 • Eugene, OR 97405 • (541) 520-3763 • fax (503) 223-0073
Central Oregon Office • 115 NW Oregon Ave #21 • Bend, OR 97701 • (541) 719-8221 • fax (866) 394-3089
Columbia County Planning Commission
Columbia County Land Development Services/Planning Division
230 Strand Street
St. Helens, OR 97051
May 29, 2013
RE: Comments on the Port of St. Helens’ Application for Comprehensive Plan
Map and Text Amendment and Zone Change to Reclassify and Rezone
Property from PA-80 to RIPD; Goal 2 Exception to Goal 3; File No. PA 12-
02 & ZC 13-01
Dear Chairman Letourneau and Planning Commissioners:
Thank you for this opportunity to present comments opposing the subject application. 1000 Friends of Oregon is a nonprofit, membership organization that works with Oregonians to support livable urban and rural communities, protect family farms and forests, and provide transportation and housing choice.
Agriculture is Oregon's second largest industry: 1 out of 8 jobs in this state is agriculture-related, and the industry is directly and indirectly linked to about $22 billion in sales of goods and services, accounting for 15% of the statewide total of sales involving all industry sectors. Agriculture is traded-sector – 80% is sold out of state with 40% exported out of the country, bringing new dollars into Oregon. And those figures have been increasing almost steadily for two decades, which is not a story any other industry can tell.
1000 Friends of Oregon believes that agricultural land should stay in agricultural use to support Oregon’s second largest industry. Over $26 million worth of agricultural products are produced in Columbia County and the backbone of the farming economy in the County is the fine soils found along the Columbia River including the excellent soils found on this site. In its testimony, Columbia Riverkeeper has done an excellent job of laying out the legal basis for denying this application. We ask that you deny the application based upon policy and the law.
Also, please note that SB 766 does not authorize, encourage, or expedite rezones to industrial. It merely provides expedited opportunities for development of lands already zoned industrial.
For the reasons above, 1000 Friends of Oregon opposes the comprehensive plan amendment proposed by the Port.
Respectfully submitted,
Steven D. McCoy
Farm and Forest Staff Attorney
DLCD Farmland Protection Program
http://www.oregon.gov/LCD/Pages/farmprotprog.aspx
EXEPTIONS
http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us/pages/rules/oars_600/oar_660/660_004.html
This blog is dedicated to stopping the Port of St. Helens attempt to rezone nearly 1,000 acres of Prime agricultural land in Clatskanie, Oregon to Rural Industrial.
I live on a small farm near Port Westward, Clatskanie, Oregon. There is an effort by the Port of St. Helens to re-zone nearly 1,000 acres of Prime Agricultural Land to Rural industrial at Port Westward.This would devastate the livelihoods of several farmers in the area who plant mint, blueberries, black caps, cotton wood and a CSA among others.
Areal View of the proposed expansion of rezoning. This includes 2 miles of riparian wildlife habitat along the shoreline that would devastate the salmon, white-tailed deer,eagle, river otter and blue heron populations among others.
I live on a small farm near Port Westward, Clatskanie, Oregon. There is an effort by the Port of St. Helens to re-zone nearly 1,000 acres of Prime Agricultural Land to Rural industrial at Port Westward.This would devastate the livelihoods of several farmers in the area who plant mint, blueberries, black caps, cotton wood and a CSA among others.
The Port of St. Helens is applying to re-zone the farmland preemptively in order to take advantage of Senate Bill 766 which helps expedite development on sites already zoned industrial. Their strategy appears to be to re-zone without a current project then apply for permitting to do what ever they want with very little public input (if any) The bill was never intended to be used this way.
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