Zenith Energy

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Zenith Energy was founded in 2014 as a partnership between current CEO Jeff Armstrong (former VP of Kinder Morgan[1]) and private equity firm Warburg Pincus.

Following a $600 million line-of-equity in investment by Warburg Pincus in August 2014 [2], Zenith Energy acquired[3]:

And, following an additional equity injection of $625 million from Warburg Pincus and Kelso & Co[4]:

Zenith Capital

See also Zenith Capital

Greenwashing

"Our commitment to innovation combined with our focus on prioritizing the health and safety of our people and the environment has elevated Zenith’s position as an industry leader. Integrity is at the heart of everything we do as a company." - Jeff Armstrong, CEO[5]

Zenith Energy received the International Liquid Terminals Association (ILTA) safety award three years in a row[6].

US Terminals

Portland

In 2017, Zenith Energy purchased the Portland Terminal, where 90% of the State of Oregon's petroleum is stored & distributed from.[7]

Zenith Energy claims to be leading Portland’s renewable fuel transition[8]. Yet following its purchase of the Portland Terminal in 2017, the company greatly expanded fossil fuel operations, shipping in oil by rail from the tar sands of Canada and the Bakken shale fields of North Dakota, and then loading it onto ships in the Willamette River for export. As a result of Zenith's expansion oil shipments through Portland have surged, rising from 14 million gallons in 2018 to 234 million gallons in 2020.

As a consequence of Zenith's expansion, mile-long 100-car trains filled with volatile crude oil now barrel through urban neighborhoods in Portland multiple times a week. The risk of train derailments is not shared equally, with low-income communities and communities of color making up a larger portion of residents near rail lines than in Multnomah county as a whole.

Along the Wimahl river (in the Columbia River Gorge), the trains also interfere with Indigenous tribal nations and their treaty rights to fish, threatening a disaster-in-waiting for the river and its salmon.[9]

In 2021, the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management warned that with the next next Cascadian Megaquake, Zenith Energy's "Critical Energy Infrastructure Hub and all the tank farms there pose a really grave threat to the city, the county, the region, the whole state, and environment in an earthquake," which “we've known for a long time."[10]

In Feb 2022, Multnomah County released its full report on the projected impacts of fuel releases from the Portland Terminal during the Cascadian Megaquake.[11]

The study concluded that hundreds of World War II era tanks (pre-seismic safety) containing 100s of millions of gallons of gasoline and jet fuel would rupture, collapse, or explode, leaking 50-100% percent of their fuel. The disaster would put thousands of lives at risk and result in unimaginable damage to the river and wildlife, with oil releases spreading downstream all the way to the Mouth of the Wimahl River.

Multnomah County reported that:

"The wildlife and habitat impacts would be devastating, as well. Estuaries, wetlands, and wildlife refuges all reside downstream of the impact site. The industrial Hub is adjacent to Sauvie Island and Forest Park, one of the country’s largest urban forest reserves. Species of the area including endangered birds, fish and reptiles are likely to face direct mortality, long-term health issues, and damage to their food supply."[12]

The estimated 1-200 million gallons of fuel that would spill "is equivalent to the size of the spill at the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico that was the country's largest oil spill to date," yet would be significantly harder to clean-up amidst the massive earthquake relief effort.[13][14]

See also: the one pager on Zenith’s alleged "preparedness for a seismic event" (the upcoming Cascadian Megaquake).[15]

EU Terminals

Sources

  1. ↑ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/zenith-energy-announces-investment-of-up-to-600-million-led-by-warburg-pincus-269823181.html
  2. ↑ https://warburgpincus.com/investments/zenith-energy/
  3. ↑ https://warburgpincus.com/case-studies/zenith-energy/
  4. ↑ https://www.thedeal.com/private-equity/exit-ramp-zenith-may-be-next-to-block-in-warburg-oil-pruning/
  5. ↑ https://www.zenithterminals.com/about/ceo-message
  6. ↑ https://media.graphassets.com/CEi3iMxQjSEaurrpv6Yg
  7. ↑ https://zenithterminals.com/terminals/portland-terminal
  8. ↑ https://media.graphassets.com/ROKP6GVXTruZiDrjypA1 one-pager
  9. ↑ https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/can-portland-oregon-stand-oil-industry
  10. ↑ https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2021/07/26/35406357/industrial-hub-in-northwest-portland-will-cause-catastrophic-oil-spill-during-earthquake-report-finds
  11. ↑ https://multco-web7-psh-files-usw2.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/Impacts%20of%20Fuel%20Releases%20from%20the%20CEI%20Hub%20Report.pdf
  12. ↑ https://www.multco.us/multnomah-county/news/new-report-sheds-light-cascadia-earthquake-risks-public-input-sought-aug-15%C2%A0
  13. ↑ https://www.multco.us/sustainability/cei-hub-seismic-risk-analysis
  14. ↑ https://www.multco.us/multnomah-county/news/%E2%80%9C-deepwater-horizon-disaster-minutes%E2%80%9D-new-report-tallies-billions-damages-fuel
  15. ↑ https://media.graphassets.com/CEi3iMxQjSEaurrpv6Yg
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