Courtney Naquin, courtney.naquin@sierraclub.org
Corpus Christi, TX - Yesterday, Sierra Club, Texas Campaign for the Environment, CHISPA Texas, Healthy Gulf, Earthjustice, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid and Indigenous Peoples of the Coast Bend, and several hundred individuals submitted comments to the US Army Corps of Engineers urging them to reject Phillips 66 and Trafigura’s 404 permit application for their Bluewater Oil Export Terminal project proposed for construction in the Coastal Bend region of Texas’ Gulf Coast. On Monday, December 20, over 700 individuals submitted comments to the Maritime Administration and US Coast Guard for Bluewater oil terminal’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).
The Bluewater oil export terminal would consist of 55 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines, a massive onshore crude oil tank farm, and an offshore oil terminal located 15 miles from the Texas Coastal Bend region of San Patricio County -- an area mostly composed of communities of color.
Communities in the Gulf have been opposed to this oil project and continue to pressure government entities to stop the construction of Bluewater. Just last week, hundreds of concerned community members and environmental advocates submitted individual comments opposing the project. Over 35 groups signed onto a comment drafted and submitted by attorneys to the US Maritime Administration and US Coast Guard to reassess Bluewater’s DEIS. And 20 groups signed onto a comment drafted and submitted by Healthy Gulf to the US Army Corps of Engineers for the project’s 404 permit application.
If built, the oil terminal project would load Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) - massive oil tankers - at 80,000 barrels/hour, and be allowed to export 1.05 million barrels/day or 384 million barrels per year. A Bluewater oil spill of this magnitude would devastate the Coastal Bend region’s sensitive bays and estuaries, human health, and the tourism and fishing economy.
Bluewater would also release extreme amounts of air pollution -- almost 19,000 tons per year of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs), for which there is no safe level, and over 833 tons per year of hazardous air toxins including cancer-causing benzene that would travel throughout coastal areas and communities, exacerbating existing public health problems caused by industrial air toxins in the Coastal Bend. The Coastal Bend already experiences higher than average asthma levels in the state, and this project would exacerbate those diseases, especially in vulnerable children, already sick people, and elders.
Love Sanchez, member of the Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend, said:
“Bluewater is going through unceded waters and lands of the Karankawa people. We are already seeing & suffering the consequences of colonization and these fossil fuel projects, such as pollution, dead waters, dead marine life, damaged health and more. Colonizers were quick to industrialize and destroy the water and land -which we consider our relatives- so long ago. Today, people call this "natural resources” and have commodified and capitalized our kin. Stopping the Bluewater oil export terminal is just one step of many things that we have done since Nations joined in the struggle to defend Standing Rock, and like all Native groups we have fire in our hearts to protect the land and water. The Indigenous Peoples of Coastal Bend will not stop resisting fossil fuel projects in the Gulf until we see true change. Expect us.”
Ms. Brenda Jones who lives in Aransas Pass and is represented by Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Inc., said:
“Not only am I concerned about how close this project is to where I live, but I’m older, so my main concern is how Bluewater will impact my kids and grandkids, who also live in this area.”
Ana Laurel, staff attorney at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Inc., said:
“Bluewater’s impact on climate change will likely increase the frequency and severity of major storms like Hurricane Harvey in the Coastal Bend region. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement failed to adequately evaluate those impacts for folks in this region, many of whom remain displaced by Hurricane Harvey. This is especially true for the low-income people of color, like our client Ms. Jones, who will be directly impacted by the Bluewater project and who are largely excluded from disaster recovery programs.”
Erin Gaines, Senior Attorney for EarthJustice, said:
“Bluewater would lock in decades of dangerous air and climate pollution, further threatening the health and wellbeing of Gulf Coast communities on the frontlines of fossil fuels. The law requires a full assessment of these risks before permits can be approved, which has not happened. Approving a massive new fossil fuel export facility is wholly inconsistent with the Biden administration’s commitment to climate and environmental justice.”
Elida Castillo, Program Director of Chispa Texas, said:
“Bluewater Terminal poses a huge risk to the health and safety of our communities who are already suffering from the presence of fossil fuel polluters. The last thing we need are more pipelines running through our lands to transport 80,000 gallons of crude oil per hour for the benefit of multibillion dollar industries and rich foreign nations. To allow this would go against the Biden Administration's agenda to "Build Back Better" and contradicts his platform on environmental justice.
Chloe Torres, Coastal Bend Exports Organizer, Texas Campaign for the Environment, stated:
The Coastal Bend is my lifelong home and Bluewater threatens so much about what my community loves about living here - the fish, dolphins and birds and the bays and Gulf waters and beaches. That's why so many local residents are taking a stand against this ill-advised off-shore crude export facility."
Naomi Yoder, staff scientist with Healthy Gulf in Texas, said:
“Bluewater is a dangerous and dirty project that would transport exorbitant amounts of oil through environmental justice communities already overburdened with pollution. The project is an oil spill waiting to happen, and there’s no justification for it. In a time when we want to be transitioning away from fossil fuels, a new oil pipeline and offshore port is not needed and instead reinforces the system of environmental racism already in place.”
Rebekah Hinojosa, Sierra Club’s Gulf Coast Campaign Representative, said:
“The Bluewater export terminal is a major threat to Coastal Bend communities who are already burdened with a highly polluting fossil fuel industry presence. There is no reason to add another incredibly harmful oil facility that puts the Gulf at risk of more spills and explosions and jeopardize people’s water and air quality and their way of life. The Army Corps, Maritime Administration, and US Coast Guard needs to start acting in the interest of the people and not of corporate fossil fuel polluters and stop the Bluewater oil export terminal from ever being built.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.