Oil Trains in Anacortes

Wednesday, June 3, 7 p.m., Depot Arts Center, 611 R Avenue, Anacortes

— from Gretchen Krampf —

Discussing the facts on oil trains in Skagit County.

What: “The Thin Green Line: Anacortes Faces the Costs and Consequences of Oil Trains”
a presentation and Q&A with Sightline Institute policy director Eric de Place

When: Wednesday, June 3, 2015; 7 PM. Doors open at 6:30
with coffee, tea, and dessert served. (Seating is on a first come, first served basis.)

Where: Depot Arts Center, 611 R Avenue, Anacortes, WA (map)

Questions?: Contact Serena Larkin. Please feel free to spread the word to friends and family, either by sharing this article or through Facebook or Twitter.

In the past several months alone, North America has seen five major oil train derailments and explosions. Communities across the country, including along the West Coast, are scrambling to cope with the threats these “bomb trains” pose—from their radically under-insured collision and damage risks to the delays they cause for local traffic to, of course, their potential to violently explode along tracks running past schools, downtowns, homes, and local businesses.

Wednesday, June 3, Eric De Place will speak on the costs and consequences of increased oil train traffic for the city of Anacortes, Washington, home to the Tesoro and Shell refineries, where millions of gallons of volatile crude oil arrive daily by train.

Eric will also explore the larger regional picture of the Northwest grappling with an unprecedented influx of coal, oil, and gas export schemes. As community and local leaders contemplate the possibility of a massively larger fossil fuel sector, they deserve the facts on what this industry means.