As you drive along St. Helens Road in NW Portland, to the west rise the West Hills and Forest Park. But to the east you see a landscape diametrically opposed to the verdant scene acorss the highway. What is in those tank farms that go on and on, bordered by railroad tracks where you see oil trains almost all the time now. That's the Critical Energy Infrastructure hub or the CEI hub, where 90% of Oregon's liquid fossil fuel is stored, along with natural gas and a massive tank filled with liquid natural gas. And you may ask yourself, how did this all get here?
On this episode of Locus Focus we talk with John Wasiutynski, the director of the Multnomah County Office of Sustainability, about how and why these hazardous tank farms have come between the Willamette River and Forest Park, the dangers they pose and what we can do about it.
- KBOO