A group representing business and labor interests sent a letter to the mayor criticizing his about-face on a proposed propane terminal at the Port of Portland.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
A group representing business and labor interests sent a letter to Portland mayor Charlie Hales criticizing Hales’ about-face on a proposed propane terminal at the Port of Portland.
“Making land-use decisions based on unwritten and unspoken ‘environmental standards’ causes us fundamental concern. How could any business deciding to locate in Portland every know what the standards are when new, unwritten and unspoken standards are brought up late in the process?” says the letter, signed by leaders ranging from PGE President & CEO Jim Piro to John Mohlis, executive secretary of the Oregon State Building and Construction Trade Council.
The leaders say the Pembina Pipeline Co. is a reputable employer and the project will create good-paying jobs, both during and after the construction phase: “Pembina is a solid, sustainable employer, one who we should openly welcome to Portland. The project would not only be the largest private investment in the history of the city, but it would also generate solid middle-wage jobs (including 800 union construction jobs and then some 40 permanent skilled-trades jobs) at a time when Portland is seeing middle-wage jobs decline as a percentage of our overall workforce,” reads the letter.
(SOURCE: Portland Tribune)
The coalition included the heads of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, Greenbrier Companies, Chown and more, according to the Portland Business Journal.
The Portland Business Alliance organized the letter after Hales refused to bring the matter of Pembina Pipeline Corp.’s environmental amendment to the full city council for a hearing and potentially a vote. The letter doesn’t demand that the project be approved, only that it get an airing before the council.
The Port of Portland needs the amendment so that Pembina can install a pipe between its propane tanks and a marine berth near its Terminal 6 site in North Portland. The city’s planning and sustainability commission recommended the council approve the amendment, with a caveat that Pembina pay $6.2 million in fees into the special “Portland Carbon Fund.” The caveat came after opponents fiercely challenged the project on environmental and safety grounds.
A spokesperson for the mayor said he had yet to review the letter.
