At the South Portland City Council meeting moments before the council voting to pass the Clear Skies Ordinance, Councilor Michael Pock proposed an amendment to exempt American crude oil from the ordinance. This was not done to support the USA, but to allow the export of one of the most hazardous petroleum products made, Bakken crude, from the port of South Portland.

Had it passed it would have left our city wide open to the export of Bakken crude, which is produced in North Dakota. It is a more hazardous product than tar sands oil. Because of this, pipeline companies refuse to transport it. Bakken crude is shipped by rail and it is what was on the train that decimated Lac Megantic, Quebec. Global Partners, which has a terminal in South Portland, is the largest rail shipper of Bakken crude in United States. I am sure all the terminal operators see Bakken crude as a potential source of income.

David Orbeton
South Portland


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