Terror and the Tanks
Since that time, I've heard from more than a few people about this and many other issues important to the activists in the harbor area.
Today's events have got me thinking about it again. The activists won. The lease was terminated, the gas needs to get moved. I'm not going to rehash that. The problem is what's next?
If the activists are correct, no one has been able to find a new home for Amerigas in 36 years. This is their number, not mine. Janice Hahn is creating a task force to come up with recommendations on where to move the tanks. She wanted to give them 90 days. Tony Cardenas beat her to the punch though and said they should only get 60 days.
Why they are going to be able to solve the problem in 60 days that 36 years couldn't, I'm not sure. Yes there are the economics involved and the company now is forced to move, but where are they going to go that NIMBY's aren't going to block? We currently still have the tank. We also now have trucks shipping this stuff all over the place throughout the harbor area. As we learned today, small threats can be just as debilitating as one big one, and now our men and women in blue are stretched even thinner due to years of underfunding and staffing.
I would STRONGLY urge Councilwoman Hahn and all of the players involved to roll up their sleeves, put their years of differences aside, and quickly find a solution to this problem. They were adamant about making it happen. Now they need to be equally adamant about actually solving it.
The alternative has been made all to clear.
Posted by Anonymous @ 7/07/2005 08:57:00 PM
5 Comments:
Move them to the Desert.
Isolated area away from metropolitan ports, city, or residents. Relocate them to a desert city and have that city give them tax incentives...
You must accept the fact that you cannot have it both ways. It is a give and take. This time you give in to the activists, but take away convenience and price.
This facility exists to facilite the EXPORT of this fuel to China.
So, we import crude oil for $60 per barrel, run it through refineries in Wilmington, and then export the resulting butane to China.
Butane is classified as a Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), and is the kissing cousin of propane, which is currently being used in yard tractors at the China Shipping terminal, which is about 500 feet from the facility at Berth 120 which is the cause of all of this hoohah.
How about if we find a way to burn this relatively clean fuel in some of the thousands of pieces of diesel powered equipment which operate in the Port every day? If they can run on propane, it seems to me that they could run on butane.
The Port and its tenants will scream that it's too hard, we've never done it that way, we've done it this way for 30 years, and all of the standard responses.
Once the line of least resistance of shipping it to China is removed, maybe they will get motivated to do something creative. With all of the high powered petroleum engineers, chemical engineers, chemists, and other such mavens working for the oil companies, I am totally confident that they can figure out a way to make it work. Good old American know how and ingenuity, don't you know?
At the same time we are dealing with this, we are looking to drill for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and all over the Rocky Mountain West. We are looking to build a giant facility in Long Beach to IMPORT Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), if not the kissing cousin then a very close relation of propane and butane. We are fighting a war which many may believe is somewhat connected to out insatiable appetite for imported oil and gas. Meanwhile we are EXPORTING this product to China? We're not in Kansas any more, Toto.
Good creative thinking. Let's hope our new Mayor and his staff are reading this as well!
Mayor Frank, you have inspired me! After reading your response, the penny dropped. This may seem a bit dense, but bear with me.
As part of the settlement of the China Shipping lawsuit, the Port established a $20 million air pollution mitigation fund. This fund awards competetive grants for pollution control projects. The grants are vetted by the most blue ribbon panel of independent air pollution experts you will ever see, the so-called Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).
There are currently two grant porposals to convert yard tractors to Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) which are receiving very favorable consideration.
As there is no LNG terminal on the west coast of the United States, any LNG currently used in the L.A. basin is trucked in from either Texas or Wyoming.
Maybe we can convert one or both of these proposals to run on butane!
I have spoken to one of the TAC members about this, and she promised to look into the feasibility.
I will try my best to push this from my little end, but there is nothing like some exposure on the famous Mayor Sam blog to get people thinking.
Thanks again.
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