protest in memory of 47 killed in oil train explosion
Sixty members of faith, environmental and community groups blocked the tracks into an oil transfer and storage facility in Northwest Portland for an hour. Portland’s Climate Action Coalition sponsored the blockade at Arc Logistics to mark the two-year anniversary of the oil train derailment that killed 47 people in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec.
Each participant in the memorial service held a sign with the name and age of a person who died from the derailment’s massive explosion, which destroyed more than three dozen buildings in the Lac-Mégantic downtown. The runaway train derailed and two dozen oil cars exploded in the middle of the night on July 6, 2013. The disaster is the most deadly explosion so far of oil from the new fracking development in North Dakota’s Bakken field, which holds an especially volatile mixture of oil and gas. Bakken oil is now regularly shipped through Portland and Southern Washington.
At the memorial blockade, Reverend Kate Lore, social justice minister at First Unitarian Church, Reverend Jayna Gieber of People of the Heart, and community organizer Bonnie McKinlay spoke to honor the lives lost in Lac-Mégantic and to call attention to the safety risks and climate damage created by the fossil fuel industry.
The Climate Action Coalition staged the memorial at Arc Logistics to call attention to the local and global risks from oil trains and climate change.
“It’s corporate greed versus the common good, whether its rail safety or climate change,” said activist Lowen Berman. The action coincided with others across the United States and Canada for “The Oil Train Week of Action,” a project sponsored by Forest Ethics and 350.org.
Oil trains travel weekly through North Portland to get to Arc Logistics.
The Climate Action Coalition is calling for an end to fossil fuel development and an immediate transition to a renewable energy and an economy that values people and planet over profit.
Each participant in the memorial service held a sign with the name and age of a person who died from the derailment’s massive explosion, which destroyed more than three dozen buildings in the Lac-Mégantic downtown. The runaway train derailed and two dozen oil cars exploded in the middle of the night on July 6, 2013. The disaster is the most deadly explosion so far of oil from the new fracking development in North Dakota’s Bakken field, which holds an especially volatile mixture of oil and gas. Bakken oil is now regularly shipped through Portland and Southern Washington.
At the memorial blockade, Reverend Kate Lore, social justice minister at First Unitarian Church, Reverend Jayna Gieber of People of the Heart, and community organizer Bonnie McKinlay spoke to honor the lives lost in Lac-Mégantic and to call attention to the safety risks and climate damage created by the fossil fuel industry.
The Climate Action Coalition staged the memorial at Arc Logistics to call attention to the local and global risks from oil trains and climate change.
“It’s corporate greed versus the common good, whether its rail safety or climate change,” said activist Lowen Berman. The action coincided with others across the United States and Canada for “The Oil Train Week of Action,” a project sponsored by Forest Ethics and 350.org.
Oil trains travel weekly through North Portland to get to Arc Logistics.
The Climate Action Coalition is calling for an end to fossil fuel development and an immediate transition to a renewable energy and an economy that values people and planet over profit.
Activists’ Protest blocks Oil Shipment
Members of the Community for Earth were among 100 people who gathered to protest oil trail shipments at Arc Logistics, Portland’s only crude oil-by-rail terminal, reportedly blocking some shipments, the activists said.
Five protesters risked arrest by sitting directly on the rail tracks to prevent an oil train from reaching the oil terminal. An unidentified worker at the facility told activists that because of the protest, Arc halted oil shipments for the remainder of the day, Thursday, Oct., 9
Protesters, including those blocking the tracks, dispersed peacefully. No arrests were reported.
Eight members of the First Unitarian Universalist Church took part, including the Rev. Kate Lore.
"It's no secret: we live in one of the most beautiful and biologically diverse regions in the country. It is why we have chosen to live here," Lore said. "What is largely a secret is the sheer number of trains moving crude oil through these beautiful places; 380,000 barrels per day."
"We must stand together and draw a green line between oil exporters and ourselves." Lore said. "Let us leave oil in the ground; let us protect the beauty and life of this region; let us say “no” to oil exports." (Read her statement)
Angela van Patten, a First Church congregant and CFE friend, was among those who risked arrest "as a way of urging an increase in momentum getting off fossil fuels here in Oregon and worldwide." (Read her statement.)
The Climate Action Coalition consists of Portland Rising Tide, NoKXL, 350 PDX, Portland Raging Grannies, the First Unitarian Universalist Church Community for Earth and PDX Bike Swarm.
Police watched closely and had paddy wagons on hand in the event of arrests, KOIN-TV reported early during the protest. KOIN said that Arc representatives declined to comment, but had said in the past that the company observes safety standards and provides jobs in the community.
The Portland Tribune also covered the protest. The action was linked to others against the increasing shipment of oil by trail. Over the past two years, nearly a dozen oil trains have detailed across North America, many ending in fireball explosions that have killed 47 people and caused hundreds of millions in property damage.
The New York Times reported the day before the Portland protest that the increasing shipment of oil by rail was delaying Amtrak passenger trains and the transport of consumer and industrial goods.
The dangers associated with the shipments and the risks of climate change were cited by those who took part in the Portland action.
Others speaking at the protest included Dr. Kelly O’Hanley, MD, MPH, one of the five activists willing to risk arrest if an oil train attempted to enter Arc Logistics, and organizer Mia Reback.
The protest was linked to earlier direct actions against Northwest oil-by-rail projects. In June, activists with Portland Rising Tide blocked the Arc Logistics site in Portland when a woman locked herself to a concrete filled barrel on the tracks. Coalition members across have set up blockades at oil facilities in Anacortes and Everett, Washington, and Port Westward, Oregon.
The Climate Action Coalition is asking that the city of Portland halt the operations of Arc Logistics and imposes a ban on all new fossil fuel infrastructure that puts our climate and communities in jeopardy.
UPDATE: The Climate Action Coalition, of which the Community for Earth is party, held a fundraiser for legal defense on Oct. 25. The $1,600 raised went to the Civil Liberties Defense Center, which is working with the coalition. For more about the legal defense group, click here.
Five protesters risked arrest by sitting directly on the rail tracks to prevent an oil train from reaching the oil terminal. An unidentified worker at the facility told activists that because of the protest, Arc halted oil shipments for the remainder of the day, Thursday, Oct., 9
Protesters, including those blocking the tracks, dispersed peacefully. No arrests were reported.
Eight members of the First Unitarian Universalist Church took part, including the Rev. Kate Lore.
"It's no secret: we live in one of the most beautiful and biologically diverse regions in the country. It is why we have chosen to live here," Lore said. "What is largely a secret is the sheer number of trains moving crude oil through these beautiful places; 380,000 barrels per day."
"We must stand together and draw a green line between oil exporters and ourselves." Lore said. "Let us leave oil in the ground; let us protect the beauty and life of this region; let us say “no” to oil exports." (Read her statement)
Angela van Patten, a First Church congregant and CFE friend, was among those who risked arrest "as a way of urging an increase in momentum getting off fossil fuels here in Oregon and worldwide." (Read her statement.)
The Climate Action Coalition consists of Portland Rising Tide, NoKXL, 350 PDX, Portland Raging Grannies, the First Unitarian Universalist Church Community for Earth and PDX Bike Swarm.
Police watched closely and had paddy wagons on hand in the event of arrests, KOIN-TV reported early during the protest. KOIN said that Arc representatives declined to comment, but had said in the past that the company observes safety standards and provides jobs in the community.
The Portland Tribune also covered the protest. The action was linked to others against the increasing shipment of oil by trail. Over the past two years, nearly a dozen oil trains have detailed across North America, many ending in fireball explosions that have killed 47 people and caused hundreds of millions in property damage.
The New York Times reported the day before the Portland protest that the increasing shipment of oil by rail was delaying Amtrak passenger trains and the transport of consumer and industrial goods.
The dangers associated with the shipments and the risks of climate change were cited by those who took part in the Portland action.
Others speaking at the protest included Dr. Kelly O’Hanley, MD, MPH, one of the five activists willing to risk arrest if an oil train attempted to enter Arc Logistics, and organizer Mia Reback.
The protest was linked to earlier direct actions against Northwest oil-by-rail projects. In June, activists with Portland Rising Tide blocked the Arc Logistics site in Portland when a woman locked herself to a concrete filled barrel on the tracks. Coalition members across have set up blockades at oil facilities in Anacortes and Everett, Washington, and Port Westward, Oregon.
The Climate Action Coalition is asking that the city of Portland halt the operations of Arc Logistics and imposes a ban on all new fossil fuel infrastructure that puts our climate and communities in jeopardy.
UPDATE: The Climate Action Coalition, of which the Community for Earth is party, held a fundraiser for legal defense on Oct. 25. The $1,600 raised went to the Civil Liberties Defense Center, which is working with the coalition. For more about the legal defense group, click here.