On Thursday, Feb. 19, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution to clarify technical details necessary for the County to require financial assurances from Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub owners and operators. These financial assurances will provide Multnomah County the resources necessary to respond to a CEI Hub spill or release of hazardous materials.
The resolution, co-sponsored by District 1 Commissioner Meghan Moyer and District 2 Commissioner Shannon Singleton, moves Multnomah County closer to an ordinance that will protect the public’s health from CEI Hub-induced risks.
The CEI Hub is a six-mile concentration of industrial facilities along the Willamette River’s west bank. It stores the majority of Oregon’s gasoline, diesel fuel, liquified natural gas and other hazardous substances. It holds more than 90% of all the liquid fuel in Oregon with a maximum capacity of 630 tanks and 350.6 million gallons.
The hub, however, is situated on unstable soil prone to liquefaction and lateral spreading during an earthquake, creating a substantial risk for hazardous materials to be released into the air, water and land at levels equivalent to BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Multnomah County’s Office of Sustainability warns that there is an estimated 26% chance of a major seismic event in the next 50 years. A disaster of this kind at the CEI Hub would result in massive public health hazards for county residents.
The CEI Hub falls within Commissioner Moyer’s district, which includes Sauvie Island, parts of inner Southeast Portland and all of Multnomah County west of the Willamette River. And while a disaster would have significant regional concerns, the most direct impacts would be felt by residents in Commissioner Moyer’s district as well as Commissioner Singleton’s district, which includes North and Northeast Portland.
“The intention of this resolution is to get us the last important pieces of information to then really move forward on an ordinance and get the community heavily involved in how we’re going to ensure that Multnomah County can respond in a worst-case scenario at the CEI Hub,” said Commissioner Moyer. “Although this is just a step forward, it is an important one because we’re committing to a framework of how we plan to move forward. As the Commission for Multnomah County, we have an obligation to ensure that we are able to fulfill our obligations in an emergency.”
“It’s important to acknowledge that we have engaged with both industry as well as advocates as part of our work, but it is the appropriate time to turn this over to the the County experts to work with other subject matter experts to lead us through the next steps so we get good, concrete data from previous work and current information,” said Commissioner Singleton. “This is that critical next step so that the County can implement something that not only helps protect the public health as well as the emergency response, but also any ongoing impacts of some kind of release from these facilities.”
If a spill or release of materials at the CEI Hub were to occur, Multnomah County would be immediately responsible for emergency management and health responses — which the County does not currently have funding to cover. In addition to costing millions of dollars, the disaster would also take years to resolve. Currently, CEI Hub owners and operators are not required to provide financial assurances to cover the costs of the County’s response.
“While we would not be the first responders in this type of event, the potentially tens of thousands of people that are displaced will be ours to make sure they can be cared for from a mass care standpoint,” Chris Voss, director of Office of Emergency Management, told the Board at a Feb. 10 briefing on the subject.
“When you see a spill of this magnitude, it’s not going to be something that will be cleaned up and people will be able to get back to their homes quickly. It’s something that will impact us for potentially months and years, and all of those responsibilities are ours. Our costs for just sheltering certainly will be in the tens of millions of dollars. This is not a short-term event; this is a really long-term event.”
In 2020, the County and City of Portland commissioned a study of the potential impacts of an earthquake on the CEI Hub. The analysis, released in February 2022, prompted the Oregon Legislature to approve the Fuel Tank Seismic Stability Program, which requires CEI Hub owners and operators to assess and mitigate risk from earthquakes.
But the program’s risk mitigation requirement does not include financial assurance to pay for potential damages — leaving public agencies and the taxpayers who fund them on the hook for cleanup, remediation and restoration costs.
The resolution brought before the Board on Feb. 19 directs the County to explore requirements for CEI Hub owners and operators to maintain insurance, bond or trust to cover expenses and damages. Unlike liability insurance, which requires litigation and proof of fault, these products guarantee Multnomah County immediate access to the financial resources it needs to deliver emergency response and health services.
This work will inform a future ordinance that will require CEI Hub owners and operators to prove they have financial resources that will be immediately provided to Multnomah County upon a release or spill at the CEI Hub.
Board comments
“If disaster strikes at the CEI Hub, Multnomah County taxpayers should not be left holding the bill,” said Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards. “Requiring financial assurances is about accountability – ensuring operators are taking the necessary steps to make the fuel hubs safe, and making sure operators, not the public, cover the costs of a catastrophic spill. This is a crucial safeguard for our communities and public health, and I thank the advocacy of neighbors and local coalitions for the sustained engagement with the County to bring this action forward.”
“I thank the community because without them, I don’t know if this issue would have ever risen to multiple governments trying to tackle it,” said Commissioner Moyer. “I continue to commit to stakeholders having a seat at the table as we figure out how we’re going to implement this and make sure we do everything in Multnomah County’s authority to prevent and respond to a crisis.”
“We really would love for this to happen at the state,” said Commissioner Singleton. “It protects all Oregonians as there are critical things that local governments need, that we as a County need, that have to be a part of that bill. So we’re really hopeful that we can work with our colleagues at the state to get something together, if not for this session, then for the next long session.
“In the meantime, we can’t stop our work in Multnomah County, so I want to appreciate our staff, our departments. It’s not the last step. This is really the next critical piece and there will continue to be engagement with community — both those most impacted as well as advocates as well as industry. This is not an intention to make this a siloed County process, it is really going to be about getting to the best product that we can to ensure safety for our community.”
“Thank you to our neighbors for your advocacy and staff as well for your commitment,” said Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon.
Chair Jessica Vega Pederson was absent for this resolution.