Ever since the Concerned Citizens of South Portland presented to the City Council the Waterfront Protection Ordinance, there has been a flurry of activity among local oil interests.

Underlying much of what they say is an appeal to fear. At the Planning Board meeting a few weeks ago the specter of lost jobs, lost opportunities, of delusional extremists misleading the public was front and center. A drumbeat of fear that the Waterfront Protection Ordinance will put them all out of business has been featured. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The ordinance will curtail, in the shipyard area, the loading of oil on ships for transport to refineries abroad.

The 3,700-plus citizens who signed on have spoken loudly and clearly. They do not want to shoulder all the risks involved in reversing the current pipeline to bring to their city heavy tar sands oil. They do not want toxic vapors spewed into their air from smokestacks on the waterfront. And they certainly do not want to risk anything like what has happened in Mayflower Arkansas to happen here.

On Monday, Aug. 19, at the City Council public hearing at Mahoney Middle School auditorium, you can join your voice to theirs and urge the council to send this ordinance to the ballot.

Mary-Jane Ferrier

South Portland