Benecia, California Votes Unanimously to Deny Crude by Rail Facility #CrudeByRail

On September 20th, Benecia, CA voted unanimously to deny Valero’s proposed crude by rail facility in the city. The now rejected facility would have brought two trains of 50 oil tankers carrying 3 million gallons of volatile Bakken and tar sands crude into the city every day. This decision follows years of organized opposition to the facility.The vote was preceded by the Surface Transportation Board’s ruling, which rejected Valero’s claim that the City didn’t have the authority to say no to this dangerous facility. The Sierra Club had intervened in this proceeding in support of Benecia.

The Club also engaged several local governments who stood with us to oppose Valero and other proposed crude rail facilities that, if built, would place thousands of communities across California and the nation directly in harm’s way.

In response, Director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign Lena Moffitt released the following statement:

“This is a historic victory for the people of Benecia and people throughout the country who are saddled with the threat of oil trains.

“From Lac-Megantic, Quebec to Lynchburg, VA, to Mosier, OR, the threat posed by exploding oil trains is far too real for so many people, but yesterday’s victory shows that people will no longer allow oil companies to force these dirty and dangerous projects on them or their communities. This victory is part of a growing wave of communities standing up and demanding better protections for their people and their environment. We applaud the City Council of Benicia for siding with the people against Big Oil in this important victory.”