Mayor Bill Simpson said he doesn’t plan to call for a moratorium on crude-by-rail facilities in Aberdeen following Hoquiam’s new ordinance voted into place on Monday night.
Simpson, after Wednesday night’s council meeting, pointed to the city’s resolution that denounces crude-by-rail products on the Harbor. The council unanimously passed that resolution in September.
The resolution has no force of law and does not give the city power to deny permits to planned oil facilities. Still, the mayor said the resolution makes clear the city’s stance on safety, which he said is officials’ main concern.
“We did a resolution a long time ago about the trains coming through, and we want them to be safe,” Simpson said after the meeting. “All we wanted was safety.”
He added that it would be up to the council to decide if the city would propose a moratorium and change the city’s zoning code like Hoquiam officials did earlier this week.
At an event celebrating the end of Aberdeen’s partnership with the SR 520 pontoon project, Simpson said he hoped the property left over from the work would be put to good use. He said Wednesday night that a crude oil facility would not be, to him, a productive application for the property, but added that he wasn’t concerned it would be used to house crude oil.
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