S. Portland group wants to zone out tar sands
Activists in South Portland are gathering signatures for a citizens' initiative to restrict the development of infrastructure they say would be crucial to exporting tar sands from the city's waterfront.
In a press release, the group Concerned Citizens of South Portland announced its efforts to gather 950 signatures by a June 19 deadline for the citizens' initiative that would make changes to local zoning ordinances.
The proposed Waterfront Protection Ordinance would prohibit expansion of petroleum storage, distribution and pumping facilities in the city's shipyard district. Supporters of the ordinance say such expansion would be necessary should Portland Pipe Line Corp., the operator of a Montreal-to-South Portland pipeline, decide to reverse the flow of that pipeline to begin exporting oil from Canadian tar sands.
The company says it has no immediate plans to export Canadian tar sands but has championed the safety of that oil source to communities along the 236-mile pipeline in recent months.
In February, U.S. Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud expressed concern about the company's plans in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, asking that regulators require a new presidential permit and environmental impact report should the pipeline operators pursue a tar sands plan reversing the flow of its line running through Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
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