Jean Jackman’s Testimony to Benicia Planning Commission on Feb. 9, 2016

Jean Jackman asks the Planning Commission to be good neighbors, moral people, and consider the health of all people along the rail.

Re:  Public Comment delivered at Feb. 9, 2016 Planning Commission meeting.  This is my written version of comments regarding the FEIR and the Valero Crude-by-Rail Project.  Please note I have submitted letters to earlier drafts as well.

Good evening Commissioners.  Thank you for you public service, dedication and endurance.

My name is Jean Jackman and I am your neighbor from Davis.

 I am terrified at the prospect of 1.5 million gallons of oil rolling through my town twice a day.

Frances Burke’s Testimony to Benicia Planning Commission on Feb. 10, 2016

Frances Burke urged the Planning Commission not to base their future on a dinosaur industry.

Good Evening, My name is Frances Burke I am from the City of Davis in Yolo County.

As has been brought to your attention, Davis is a uprail community . Oil mega trains headed to the  Valero refinery will pass through our downtown and past my house..  I live in a UC Davis housing community and within 200 feet of the Union Pacific rail tracks. I can see and hear trains passing by all day and all night. With the Valero refinery and the crude oil trains it will bring, I will feel, smell, and taste the additional fumes and breath the additional particulate matter from the increased daily trains.  I will hear and feel the increased train traffic every time they signal at a crossing, and I am a potential victim of a deadly accident, explosion or train derailment.

Nancy Price’s Testimony to the Benicia Planning Commission on Feb. 10, 2016

Nancy Price broadened the discussion to possible future sale of crude for direct transport overseas.

Good evening Commissioners,

Thank you for this opportunity as an up-rail Davis resident to speak.

As the final speaker among of Davis residents numbered 91-99 and a former City of Davis Planning Commissioner during the early 1990s, I have the utmost respect for the immense time, energy and attention to detail on a broad range of critical issues you have already spent on the EIR process for the Valero Benicia Crude-by-Rail project (the Project).

Carol Warren’s Testimony to Benicia Planning Commission on Feb. 10, 2016

Carol Warren testified on the impacts of living very close to the train tracks in Dixon.

Dear Planning Commissioners,

My name is Carol Warren, and I am representing the Yolano group of Sierra Club. But mostly, I’m representing myself, because I live in Dixon, perhaps 50 yards from the tracks that carry the oil trains. There are 100 senior citizens living in my apartment complex. There is a trade school across the street, and an elementary school a block away. The tracks go right through downtown Dixon, where there are stores, businesses, a fairground, and churches. We are all in the blast zone for any accident in the Dixon city area.

Lynne Nittler’s Testimony to Benicia Planning Commission Feb. 9, 2016

Lynne Nittler organized the Davis carpools to Benicia.

Dear Planning Commission Members,

Thank you for this opportunity to address you.  I am Lynne Nittler from Davis.

The Planning Department Staff Report suggests the only recourse for uprail residents facing “significant and unavoidable impacts” is to contact our congressional representatives and ask them to pass legislation for our safety.  Staff also suggests that the Planning Commission write such a letter on our behalf.

I want to outline how responsive our CA and Congressional representatives have been in the last two and a half years, and how involved we have already been at the legislative level.    It is partly because of that involvement that the uprail group from Davis asks you to not certify the EIR and to deny the Valero Crude-by-rail Project.

SIXTY LOCALS JOIN LARGEST MARCH TO BAN FRACKING

8000 Californians marched through the streets of Governor Browns home town of Oakland reminding him that climate leaders don’t frack.

by Leslie Crenna

Despite afternoon rain, at least 8,000 dedicated citizens, including about 60 from Sacramento and Davis combined, called on Governor Jerry Brown to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” across our state on Saturday, February 7, 2015, at a march in Brown’s home town, Oakland. The parallel issue of crude-by-rail—which is how the vast majority of fracked oil and gas is transported across the country—was addressed repeatedly by organizers and participants as well.

Public Workshop on Valero Crude-By-Rail DEIR Letters

Citizens gather to learn about CEQA and the DEIR process so they can write letters about their concerns with the 1,500 page document by Sept. 15.

Public Workshops

Responding to the Draft Environmental Impact Report on

Valero Crude-by-Rail Oil Trains through Davis

Saturday, August 9, 10-12 pm  

Thursday, August 21 – 7-9 pm

Sunday, September 7, 2-4 pm

Blanchard Room at Davis Branch Library

Crude-By-Rail EIR Response Workshops July 27

Map of Davis railroads showing the .5 mile U.S. DOT evacuation Zone and the 1.0 mile U.S. DOT potential impact zone plus schools.

Public Workshop 
Responding to Draft Environmental Impact Report on
Crude-by-Rail Oil Trains through Davis

Sunday, July 27, 2-4 pm

The Blanchard Room at the Davis Branch Library

Bring questions, ideas for topics, drafts and laptops

Bring a friend! Every letter adds impact!
Comments are due September 15.

LONG-AWAITED VALERO CRUDE-BY-RAIL EIR DELAYED AGAIN

June 9, 2014 by Donna Beth Weilenman

A draft of the city’s environmental impact report (EIR) for the Valero Crude-by-Rail use permit request was due to be released Tuesday, but a last-minute staff decision has delayed the report by a week, Benicia Principal Planner Amy Million said.

“City staff determined that additional information was needed to more completely address potential air quality impacts in the Draft EIR,” Million said late Monday. “As a result, the release of the document has been delayed by one week.”

City of Davis Resolution Opposing Transportation of Oil-by -Rail

Oil Tank cars on 2nd St. in Davis on Jan. 9, 2014. #1286 means petroleum distillates classified at level 3, highly flammable liquid, same category as crude oil.

STAFF REPORT
DATE: April 22, 2014
TO: City Council
FROM: Mike Webb, Director of Community Development & Sustainability
Harriet Steiner, City Attorney

SUBJECT: Resolution Regarding Transportation of Oil-by-Rail through Davis
Recommendation

1. Adopt the attached Resolution opposing the transport of hazardous crude oil by rail along the Union Pacific railway through Davis for the purposes of ensuring community safety,and;