If Washington Governor Jay Inslee approves a controversial oil train terminal in Vancouver, firefighters say a disaster would be a catastrophic.
They didn't beat around the bush Tuesday in front of Port of Vancouver commissioners.
"What I'm here to talk about is to urge you to remove the oil terminal as a matter of business for the port," said Mark Johnston, president of the Vancouver Firefighters Union.
Those 180 firefighting members he represents say this kind of oil terminal would put too many lives at risk. "We don't have the equipment, we don't have the training and we don't have personnel to be able to effectively mitigate an emergency down here. We wouldn't be able to actively put a fire out in that situation. All we would be able to do is deny entry and evacuate people," Johnston added.
With signs waving that read "A Disaster Waiting to Happen" and "Stand Against Oil Trains," a standing room only crowd followed Johnston by rattling off environmental and safety worries to commissioners.
Citizen James Karpinski told them, "This is a disaster waiting to happen. So we ask that the port get out of its lease with Tesoro/Savage, thanks."
In 2013, commissioners approved a lease with Tesoro oil refinery for the proposal to build what would be the largest oil by train terminal in the country. Four hundred crude oil cars a day would then get put on ships bound for West Coast refineries.