Portland city councilors are assessing what they could do about hundreds of millions of gallons of fuels that, if a looming natural disaster happens, could lead to the worst public health crisis in North American history.
Portland is particularly vulnerable to the 9.0 Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake that scientists predict could happen in the next few decades, based on historical geographic data. The city’s six-mile hub of fuel storage and shipping terminals along the Willamette River is expected to crumble due to an earthquake phenomenon called liquefaction, a type of riverside quicksand effect that could release millions of gallons of fuel.
The Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub is a six-mile area on Portland's Willamette River that transports and stores 90% of the state's fuel supply.
Courtesy of Multnomah County
“It could be a spill that matches the volume of the BP Deepwater Horizon spill, but rather than occurring out in the Gulf of Mexico, it would be occurring in the heart of a major American city,” Multnomah County sustainability director John Wasiutynski told councilors during a Monday work session.
Portland’s councilors requested the meeting to discuss the Critical Energy Infrastructure hub a few weeks after city staff issued a document that allowed a fuel terminal to continue operating in that district.
City Council had little power over Zenith Energy’s request for an environmental statement from Portland’s permitting department, which the company needed before getting an air quality permit from the state. Portland’s councilors, many of them new to city government, are now taking a step back and grappling with the types of rules and regulations that are within their purview.
At the council’s regular Wednesday meeting, it will consider a resolution demanding investigations into Zenith’s operations.
But Monday’s discussion mostly revolved around who is in charge of regulating all fuel companies within the Critical Energy Infrastructure hub, and what will happen when disaster strikes. Regulators from the city, state and Multnomah County outlined a web of government agencies that monitor air quality, emergencies, communications, oil spills and train derailments.
Portlanders first heard about the CEI hub’s earthquake risk after Oregon regulators published a study in 2013. Around 90% of the state’s fuel supply runs through the district, either by pipeline, rail or ship.
It took almost a decade for local governments to enact policies regulating the hub’s fuel facilities. In 2022, lawmakers passed a bill that requires the state’s largest oil storage sites to strengthen their equipment against earthquakes. That law applies to about 17 sites, and 14 of them are within city limits, including the Portland International Airport. These sites are required to finalize their earthquake mitigation plans within the next decade.
Also in 2022, Portland officials updated the city’s zoning codes to prohibit new fuel terminals in the hub. Existing terminals also can’t increase their fuel storage capacity, with some exceptions.
Some councilors said they were dismayed by how long it has taken for local governments to take action.
“I want to express my frustration about this whole process and how long it takes to get anything done,” District 4 Councilor Olivia Clark said. “We are underprepared, and no one wants to take the lead.”
Legislature could weigh in
Oregon lawmakers are considering five bills that would further regulate the fuel terminals in Northwest Portland’s energy hub. One of them, House Bill 2949, mimics a Washington state law that requires fuel companies show they have the financial means to pay cleanup costs following a significant earthquake. That financial protection could look like an insurance policy, a bond or trust, or a certificate of credit from a bank — anything that shows that the fuel company will pay for the damages its equipment caused.
“As it stands today, a lot of the responsibility for the clean up, while it’s squarely on the facilities that caused the mess… there’s some doubt that they’ll have enough financial wherewithal to pay for the clean up,” Wasiutynski said.
Toward the end of Monday’s City Council discussion, some councilors appeared to be on board with seeking funds to pay for a planner who would coordinate CEI hub regulations and emergency management between the city, county and state.
District 4 Councilor Eric Zimmerman said he was disappointed to hear that state regulators weren’t considering moving the hub and its facilities elsewhere. State resilience officer Jonna Papaefthimiou said that its location at the confluence of a river, two rail lines and an interstate pipeline would be difficult to duplicate elsewhere, and would likely bring similar challenges to wherever it’s moved.
Implementing such a plan would take decades, Papaefthimiou said. By that time, the region should have transitioned away from the fuel and oil stored at the hub, and should be relying instead on renewable energy sources. She suggested the city focus instead on transitioning away from relying on fossil fuels. Councilors did not argue against that idea.
“Change for the CEI hub is inevitable for a lot of reasons,” Papaefthimiou said. “That change also presents an opportunity.”
She said this stretch along the Willamette River is a prime location close to downtown Portland, and could be redeveloped into something else.
“That’s a future we could work towards together,” Papaefthimiou said.
