Tell the Trump Administration to stop the Sea Port Oil Terminal!

Big Oil is pushing for a massive fossil fuel project off the Texas Gulf Coast -- threatening vital wildlife habitats and surrounding communities.

The Sea Port Oil Terminal would lock us into decades of reliance on fossil fuels. The only ones who would benefit are the oil companies who have millions in profits at stake. But the federal government can stop this project.

Comments

Dear Mr. Nabach and Ms. Fields,

I am writing to express opposition to SPOT Terminal Services LLC’s application for a Deepwater Port License from the Maritime Administration, and raise concerns with significant inadequacies in the project’s environmental review (DEIS).

First and foremost, I am concerned that construction and operation of the export facility would only benefit oil and gas industry interests while placing massive burdens on local communities, the Gulf of Mexico’s coastal and marine ecosystems, and the global climate. This project therefore is not in the “national interest.”

I am deeply concerned about potentially catastrophic impacts of a major oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It has been ten years since the Deepwater Horizon disaster that decimated our Gulf Coast - our marine ecosystems and coastal communities can’t afford another disaster. The DEIS does not adequately analyze oil spill risks, especially potential impacts on the critically endangered Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle.

I am also concerned about impacts from air pollution emissions associated with this project. Local residents cannot afford the additional pollution burdens, as the region is already classified as nonattainment for EPA’s health-based air quality standards for ozone, and NOx emissions would also exceed the threshold for concern.

I am also alarmed that the EIS does not consider the very real and foreseeable direct and indirect impacts of the project’s greenhouse gas emissions on climate change. It is widely understood that crude exports are driving the rapid increase of oil and gas drilling in the Permian Basin - oil that could otherwise be left in the ground. MARAD must analyze the full lifecycle climate impacts of oil drilling, transportation, refining, and consumption that would result from this project.

Finally, I am concerned that the EIS does not consider environmental justice impacts. Toxic pollution from existing oil and gas infrastructure disproportionately burdens low-income, minority communities in the Gulf of Mexico region. And, these communities are at ground zero for the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, and loss of critically protective wetlands. The Texas coastline is eroding at an average rate of 2 to 10 feet per year, and Freeport is experiencing sea level rise at a rate of 17 inches per 100 years. It is in this context, that MARAD must evaluate the environmental justice impacts of the proposed SPOT project.

Given all of these impacts and inadequacies, I urge MARAD to deny the Deepwater Port License Application for the Sea Port Oil Terminal. The project is not in the national interest and imposes too many risks and burdens on our Gulf Coast communities and ecosystems.

Sincerely, 
{user_data~First name} {user_data~Last name}
{user_data~City}, {user_data~State} {user_data~Postcode}

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