Prevent a catastrophic oil spill and demand the Sea Port Oil Terminal permit be DENIED!

The proposed Sea Port Oil Terminal risks catastrophic oil spills, threatening critically endangered sea turtles and the entire Texas Gulf region. In fact, offshore pipeline leak rates are 10x higher in the Gulf than the national rate. And SPOT doesn’t just risk oil spills; it guarantees increased toxic air pollution, inflicting respiratory problems and increasing cancer risk for surrounding communities.

The Gulf Coast has felt the devastation of an oil spill many times before. Local fishing and tourism industries would be decimated, water resources would be tarnished, and the toll on human health would be immeasurable.

We are so close to getting its permit denied. And YOU can help prevent all this misery, but it’s our LAST CHANCE.

Comments

Dear Administrator Phillips,

I am writing to urge you to deny the Sea Port Oil Terminal permit. This project threatens communities with toxic air pollution, endangers sensitive marine habitats, and accelerates the climate crisis.

MARAD’s own Final Environmental Impact Statement estimates the upstream and downstream greenhouse gas emissions for the percent of oil that could be exported by SPOT to be 232,975,297 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, jeopardizing any of the administration’s efforts to prevent Americans from experiencing the worst impacts of the climate crisis. Approving this project will lock us into using fossil fuels for decades and delay the much-needed worldwide transition to clean, renewable energy.

The SPOT project is not in the national interest. SPOT will increase toxic air pollution in Brazoria County, which currently suffers from air quality that fails to meet EPA health standards and attainment status. The proposed pipelines would be built through residential properties and farmlands, threatening the safety of thousands of residents who would be at risk of explosions and altering the landscape they depend on. The crude oil produced would not be used domestically. Yet, communities in the Texas Gulf Coast and across the United States, where oil is transported through a complex network of dangerous infrastructure, will bear the burden of the project’s detrimental impacts.

As proposed, SPOT directly threatens the nesting ground of endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles, the Texas state sea turtle, and the world’s most endangered sea turtle species. The project also puts at risk crucial marine habitats for fisheries in the region as well as other endangered species, including the Reddish Egret and Piping Plovers. SPOT’s offshore pipelines and deepwater port are sited within three Marine Protected Areas: Reef Fish Stressed Area, Reef Fish Longline and Buoy Gear Restricted Area, and Texas Shrimp Closure. In addition, the Gulf of Mexico’s only marine sanctuary — the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary — is located approximately 40 nautical miles southeast of the proposed SPOT deepwater port.

Despite being mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act to provide meaningful public involvement, the public input process for this project has been deeply flawed since review began in 2019. In addition to overlapping notice and comment periods, MARAD failed to conduct meaningful outreach directly to impacted communities — nearly 75% of the 88 census block groups within one mile of SPOT’s proposed infrastructure sites have minority population shares exceeding 50%, and many of the block groups exceeded the state’s low-income values. Concerned community members and climate advocates across the country still managed to submit more than 45,000 comments in opposition to the supplemental EIS, which failed to adequately analyze the oil spill risk associated with the project.

Please do the right thing for people and the planet and deny the deepwater port license for the proposed SPOT project. The safety and livelihoods of Americans, who have suffered from unjust and inequitable toxic air and water pollution due to decades of economic disenfranchisement and systemic racism, must come before the profit of a few. The Gulf cannot afford this crude oil export facility, and neither can our climate. Please deny SPOT its permit and prevent damage to Gulf communities.

Thank you for considering my opinion.

Sincerely,
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{user_data~City}, {user_data~State} {user_data~Postcode}

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