Portland planners present four alternatives to limit growth, reduce risk at Harbor fuel hub

Portland’s Climate Resilience and Land Use Committee heard an informational briefing Oct. 9 on a discussion draft of a Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub policy that would change land-use rules for the bulk fuel terminals along the Willamette River and Highway 30.

Bureau of Planning and Sustainability Director Eric Engstrom told the committee the CEI Hub project grew from a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant and city-funded work and that staff "have been trying to spend the federal grant money first before we touch any money that the council has given us." The draft presents four regulatory alternatives for managing future development at the hub, which staff said serves roughly 70% of fuel consumed in the Willamette Valley and stores more than 350 million gallons in about 600 tanks across 11 bulk fuel terminals.

Why it matters: the hub concentrates liquid fuel storage in a liquefaction-prone area that staff and partners say is at high risk in a Cascadia subduction-zone earthquake. Tom Armstrong, supervising planner with BPS, said that risk underlies the project’s twin goals: reduce spill-and-fire risk from those facilities and coordinate emergency‑management readiness across city, county and state agencies.

What staff presented: the draft…