Friday, March 13, 2015
Environmentalists in California have filed a lawsuit against Contra Costa County over its February approval of a plan to increase propane recovery at Phillips 66’s Rodeo refinery. Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) asserts the county’s environmental review did not take into account the broader impact of the project. The 78,000-bbld Rodeo refinery is located in the San Francisco Bay area, and currently recovers no propane.
CBE alleges that the Phillips 66 propane recovery project requires a switch to new oil feedstocks, possibly paving the way for the company to bring in Canadian oil sands crude by rail to its refinery in Santa Maria, Calif., from where it would be shipped via pipeline to the Rodeo refinery. San Luis Obispo County officials are currently weighing whether to approve a Phillips 66 request for permits to extend the rail spur at the Santa Maria refinery. The expansion would accommodate about five trains a week, each with about 80 railcars of crude oil.
“Phillips 66 cannot meet its propane recovery project objectives without switching to a lower-quality feedstock, like tar sands, and without other Phillips 66 projects to assist in that overall switch,” said Roger Lin, an attorney representing CBE, in a press release. “These are critical project components that the environmental impact report should have, but failed to, disclose to the public.”
Phillips 66 counters the environmentalists’ claims, saying that the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors got it right, and that its decision will help ensure the long-term viability of the Rodeo refinery and the many jobs it provides. A spokesman noted that the supervisors’ approval followed two years of careful analysis, which rejected claims that the propane recovery project was a crude-by-rail project.
CBE alleges that the Phillips 66 propane recovery project requires a switch to new oil feedstocks, possibly paving the way for the company to bring in Canadian oil sands crude by rail to its refinery in Santa Maria, Calif., from where it would be shipped via pipeline to the Rodeo refinery. San Luis Obispo County officials are currently weighing whether to approve a Phillips 66 request for permits to extend the rail spur at the Santa Maria refinery. The expansion would accommodate about five trains a week, each with about 80 railcars of crude oil.
“Phillips 66 cannot meet its propane recovery project objectives without switching to a lower-quality feedstock, like tar sands, and without other Phillips 66 projects to assist in that overall switch,” said Roger Lin, an attorney representing CBE, in a press release. “These are critical project components that the environmental impact report should have, but failed to, disclose to the public.”
Phillips 66 counters the environmentalists’ claims, saying that the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors got it right, and that its decision will help ensure the long-term viability of the Rodeo refinery and the many jobs it provides. A spokesman noted that the supervisors’ approval followed two years of careful analysis, which rejected claims that the propane recovery project was a crude-by-rail project.
