Portland City commissioners walked out of their Earth Day hearing Wednesday after opponents of a proposed propane export terminal in North Portland staged a small demonstration in council chambers.
The council will vote soon on whether to amend zoning at the Port of Portland’s Terminal 6 to allow the propane terminal to build a pipeline over land that is currently zoned for conservation. The vote has not been scheduled, but opponents have vowed a long and loud campaign to derail the project, proposed by a Canadian company, Pembina Pipeline.
Wednesday’s protest shook up Mayor Charlie Hales, who expressed strong support for the $500 million terminal project when it was first announced last September, and claimed it met all environmental and safety standards before any analysis had been presented on that front.
As protesters carrying cardboard cutouts of the councilors disrupted the meeting, Hales blurted out, “This doesn’t happen here” before temporarily adjourning the meeting and walking out.
Business and labor groups are supportive of the project, which would create a few dozen permanent jobs and a projected $92 million in tax revenues over its first 10 years of operation.
Neighborhood and environmental groups are overwhelmingly opposed. They contend that city officials are fast tracking a project without adequate analysis of considerable public safety and environmental risks. Those include risks at the terminal, from mile-long propane trains traveling through densely populated neighborhoods every other day, and from propane tankers that would ply the Columbia River.
Opponents Earth Day message: Tying the city to fossil fuel exports for many decades contradicts Portland’s prior commitments to leadership on climate change policy.