Two Major Turns in the Fight Against Zenith Energy

The fight to hold Texas-based Zenith Energy accountable for its operations in Portland took two big turns this week: a legal win for community groups, and new concerns about the City’s ongoing investigation into whether Zenith has violated its franchise agreement. 

A legal win

On November 13, the Oregon Court of Appeals delivered us a win in a lawsuit supported by Breach Collective and brought by Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC), 350PDX, and other community groups earlier this year in February. The Court of Appeals’ decision focused on a technical issue of jurisdiction; that is, which court should hear the challenge to Zenith’s LUCS. 

The court ruled that Oregon’s Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA), rather than Oregon’s circuit court, has exclusive jurisdiction to review the City of Portland’s February 2025 LUCS approval. In doing so, the court rejected arguments from the City and Zenith that the conditions attached to Zenith’s LUCS – including requirements for Zenith to eventually stop handling crude oil and remove storage tanks – were not enforceable by the City. Because of this, the underlying challenge to the LUCS approval – that the City should have conducted a more formal public hearing process before deciding whether to issue the LUCS – will receive a more expedited hearing in LUBA than it would have in circuit court.

As Mary Stites, staff attorney at Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC) put it: “The court correctly scrutinized the City’s and Zenith’s claims…confirming that when a city imposes enforceable conditions, it’s a land use decision that the public has a right to challenge.” 

And from Dr. Cherise Bock, Climate Policy Director at 350PDX said: “This ruling validates our years of advocacy and opens the door for us to finally argue the merits of why Zenith’s dangerous operations are incompatible with Portland’s land use laws and climate goals. 

The case now returns to LUBA for a full review. 

“Independent” investigation remains sus

The other development this week is that the City’s handling of its Zenith franchise agreement investigation remains highly suspect. Earlier this year, City Councillors passed a resolution calling for a series of investigations into Zenith, including one over whether Zenith’s activities have violated its franchise agreement. But the investigation that has been designed by the Mayor and city staff in response to this resolution, seems to have been designed with as narrow a scope as possible. It avoids looking into activities that are most likely to have violated the franchise agreement. After City Councillors Green and Morilla pointed out conflicts of interest, Mayor Wilson hired a private law firm to conduct an “independent investigation.” 

Instead of increased transparency, a November 13 update on the “independent” investigation at the City of Portland’s Climate, Land Use, and Resilience Committee revealed that the process remains “shrouded in secrecy” and riddled with conflicts of interests. As a September 10, 2025, report from Street Roots confirmed: the same staff who previously approved Zenith’s permits are now responsible for supplying documents to the private law firm carrying out the investigation.

A truly independent investigation is still missing. 

As Dr. Cherice Bock of 350PDX said: “What we have appears to be an outside review of internal information that will be curated by the same City Staff whose past approvals and collaborations with Zenith are at the heart of the backroom dealings.” 

As Marnie Glickman of the Braided River campaign put it: “Zenith’s business model relies on deception and exploiting enforcement gaps.”

Same old story: politicians protecting corporate interests

At a time when the entire federal government is stacked against us in favor of corporate and fossil fuel industry interests, we need our local leadership – especially in purportedly progressive states and cities – to be protecting the people they claim to serve. That the Mayor’s office and city staff continue to do the bidding of a Texas-based fossil fuel company is a blatant betrayal of the health and safety of every Portland resident.