Opposition to Army Corps dredging project grows

The San Francisco to Stockton Navigation Improvement Project would dredge a deeper channel through 13 miles of the San Francisco Bay and the Carquinez Strait. Ten of thousands of opponents criticize the project as a move by President Donald Trump to expand the fossil fuel industry in California — including increasing imports of Canadian tar sands crude oil. 

According to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), the dredging project would enable the transport of greater amounts of crude oil imports and refined product exports to and from several oil refineries and other industries in the Bay Area. The proposal coincides with plans by Bay Area refineries — including an expansion proposal at Phillips 66’s San Francisco Refinery — to process greater quantities of Canadian tar sands crude oil. Tar sands, also called diluted bitumen or dilbit, is an extremely toxic, non-floating crude oil that is extremely difficult to clean up in the event of a spill.

At least 9,000 people have submitted comments in opposition to the Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco to Stockton Navigation Improvement Project.  through an online form during the comment period, with even more coming in from other community members and groups via other channels. An additional 36,414 signatures were collected on earlier petitions calling on President Trump and federal leaders to oppose the project, including Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, Rep. John Garamendi, Rep. Jerry McNerney, Rep. Mike Thompson, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and former presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris. 

The editorial and Letter to the Editor from locals (below) have further alerted the public to the threats we face from this dredging proposal and are an expression of the deep concerns our community has. At a time when our economy is plummeting, gas and oil sales are at an all time low, and our families are already suffering from disproportionate levels of air pollution, we are asking decision makers not to pursue a further $57 million subsidy to Bay Area refineries. This money can be better spent.

“The world needs to start phasing out fossil fuel production — and this plan encourages just the opposite. It gifts four Bay Area oil refineries with millions in subsidies, pumps up the production of petroleum products, multiplies the risk of oil spills in local waters, threatens marine life, and increases greenhouse gas emissions and toxic pollution,” said Isabella Zizi, Climate Campaigner at Stand.Earth, a member of Idle No More SF Bay, and signatory on the Indigenous Women of the Americas Defending Mother Earth Treaty

Read the full piece: http://beniciaheraldonline.com/san-francisco-bay-dredging-proposal-a-handout-to-oil-industry/

"This taxpayer-financed project threatens to increase toxic pollution as well as the risk of catastrophic tanker spills and oil fires that could endanger the ecological and economic lives of cities around the Bay Area. Communities near refineries already suffer increased rates of cancer, heart disease, asthma and low birth weights related to proximity to these refineries. In these times, we must recognize that we are only as healthy as our most vulnerable communities." — Carol Rothman and Rochelle Towers, 1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations, Berkeley

Read the full piece: http://eastbaytimes.ca.newsmemory.com/?publink=64dfc90d7

Background Information 

San Francisco Bay dredging fuels an unexpected concern: climate change