PDX City Council Adopts Zenith Accountability Resolution; Demands Investigations into City Conduct & Zenith Franchise Agreement
Community and environmental organizations celebrated the near-unanimous resolution passage as an important step in the struggle to protect Portland from dangerous fuel storage activities.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Media Contacts:
Dineen Crowe, 350PDX, 631-830-7478, dineen@350pdx.org
Nick Caleb, Breach Collective, 541-891-6761, nick@breachcollective.org
Damon Motz-Storey, Sierra Club Oregon Chapter, damon.motz-storey@sierraclub.org, 303-913-5634
Portland, Oregon - On Wednesday night, the campaign to stop Zenith Energy’s dangerous liquid fuel operations achieved a major victory. Portland’s City Council voted to approve a Zenith accountability resolution (11 yays and only one no vote, Councilor Steve Novick from District 3) with a series of important directives related to the past, present, and future of Zenith’s operations in Portland. Zenith operates a terminal in Northwest Portland's Critical Energy Infrastructure hub where it ships, stores, and transloads both crude oil and volatile fuels like naphtha. Zenith has consistently violated local and state regulations and both the company and the City of Portland have made misleading and inaccurate statements about the terminal's conduct. The resolution requires the City of Portland to “take action to redress past harms, ensure accountability for past City actions, and to involve the public in major decisions affecting human and environmental health and safety.” This includes directives to:
Disclose of all prior communications between the City and Zenith into the public record;
Re-evaluate Zenith’s compliance with land use laws and potential discrepancies in Zenith’s 2022 Land Use Compatibility Statement (LUCS) application;
Investigate Zenith’s compliance with its franchise agreement obligations; and
Urge the Auditor to investigate and report on the City’s handling of Zenith’s LUCS applications
Jacob Apenes from Sunrise Movement PDX (an organization of youth climate advocates), said,
“Sunrise PDX is looking forward to the mayor’s investigation of Zenith’s franchise agreement. For years, Zenith and city officials have worked behind closed doors to expand deadly fossil fuel infrastructure in Portland, exacerbating the climate crisis and eroding public trust in the process. The next generations deserve to have a future where climate disasters are not the norm. We thank City Council for voting to investigate Zenith, and we especially thank Councilors Green and Morillo for their bravery in bringing this resolution to council.”
Dineen Crowe from 350PDX said,
“Last night’s vote was a win for Portlanders, for our River, for our climate, and for a functioning, transparent, and accountable City government. I’m so proud of our movement for being unwavering in our demands for accountability and action on this issue, and so grateful for the Councilors who led this Resolution and voted yes on it to see it through. This is an important step forward in our commitment to holding the fossil fuel industry - and all who support and collude with them - accountable.”
Nancy Hiser, a resident of the Linnton Neighborhood, whose area includes Zenith said,
“The new City Council brings needed fresh eyes to the way the city has conducted itself in the past. They prioritize transparency and are unwavering in their commitment to inclusivity and community voices. They embody a mission of civility and respectful collaboration. It gives me pleasure to say this.”
Samantha Hernandez of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility said,
“Accountability and proper oversight are needed to ensure that communities, especially those who live and work in the Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub, are not further put at risk. Zenith has a long history of committing violations endangering the health and safety of Portland residents, accumulating over twenty violations from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). It is so encouraging to see Portland City Councilors taking action to protect public health and safety.”
Laurie King of Climate Jobs PDX said,
“This was a big win for community advocates who have been pushing for needed accountability on the part of the City with regard to Zenith Energy’s operations. For years there has been too cozy a relation between the City and this fossil fuel corporation. Community experts have been the public watchdog. A number of councilors lifted up the need for robust community involvement in critical City decisions such as those affecting Portlanders’ health, safety and natural environment. And that’s what we need going into the future as decisions will be made about the CEI Hub as well as other serious issues.”
Damon Motz-Storey of Sierra Club said,
“Portland just showed that we have the power to defend our communities from dangerous, dirty fuels. The corrupt Trump government is gutting the EPA to give handouts to fossil fuel companies who are themselves abusing the court against environmental defenders to silence peaceful protest. Our current moment in history makes it clear that now more than ever, we need champions who will draw the line and insist that we do better: Portland City Council did the right thing by simply requiring accountability and transparency from a crude oil company putting us at major risk.”
In recent months, thousands of community members and dozens of organizations have called on Portland City Councilors and officials to deny Zenith’s LUCS application, including by fact-checking City staff’s official narrative of events. Community groups are also challenging the City of Portland’s February 3 approval of a Land Use Compatibility Statement (LUCS) for Zenith Energy, which gave the Texas-based fossil fuel company a green light to expand its operations in Portland. Those groups, represented by Jesse Buss of Willamette Law Group, P.C., argue that the most recent LUCS process was flawed because it failed to provide for any public involvement, and seek an order to remand the decision back to the City.
In October 2024, polling from Data Progress showed that nearly half of Portlanders support revoking Zenith Energy’s LUCS and shutting down the oil-by-rail facility entirely while 58% of likely voters do not trust Zenith to follow through on its purported “renewable fuels” plans. This polling was conducted prior to DEQ’s $372,600 fine for Zenith’s illegal construction, modification, and use of a leased dock.
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