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News & ArtsMonday, August 1, 2011
Politics / City / Enviro Port Proposal Would Put 18 Coal Trains a Day on Seattle Waterfront
Posted by Cienna Madrid on Mon, Aug 1, 2011 at 3:35 PM
This post has been updated with information on how and when Seattle residents can comment on this process.
The city of Seattle could soon be saddled with 18 one-and-a-half-mile coal trains slowly rumbling through its waterfront on a daily basis, if Whatcom County proceeds with plans to build the country's largest coal export terminal outside of Bellingham, Washington. SSA Marine, a cargo terminal company, submitted a proposal to the county last August to build the coal port. The port would export up to 48 million tons of coal to China, annually—or roughly 18 coal trains a day running through cities and towns across Washington, including Seattle.
"The dust is pretty toxic stuff, full of mercury and arsenic," explains Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike, who opposes the plan. Pike met with Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn last week to discuss the uncovered coal trains, which would look something like this:
Note the visible dust flurries above the open coal cars (especially at the 2:00 mark). These cars can lose three percent of their load in transit. That's 1.6 million tons of coal dust sloughed off across the state each year.
The 18 additional coal trains, which would be coming from Montana and Wyoming, would also be a dramatic uptick from the freight train traffic Seattle now supports—roughly 60 trains pass through the waterfront on a daily basis—causing increased traffic delays and clashing with current plans to redesign Seattle's waterfront in an ecologically sustainable way.
"This is a terrible idea," said McGinn when reached by phone on Thursday.
"It could affect our air and water quality along the waterfront, which is the last thing we want." As the state Department of Ecology and Whatcom County officials review the environmental impacts of building the country's largest coal port, Pike is currently rallying Bellingham residents, environmentalists and other mayors of towns along the BNSF railroad line to oppose the project—with mixed results.
Many city officials in Whatcom County support the plan because of the estimated 1,500 to 3,000 short-term construction jobs (and 200-300 port jobs) it'll create. The county currently suffers from a nine percent unemployment rate.
"But what they don’t talk about is that the jobs are specialized," argues mayor Pike, who is running for re-election this year on an anti-port platform. "Even the construction jobs are specialized—we don't have that type of pier building expertise in Whatcom County, which means we’ll be importing labor from California for a couple year construction project."
On top of that, as Joel Connelly points out, the plan seems hypocritical given the state's 2007 commitment to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Coal causes roughly 20 percent of the world's emissions, and even though Washington state wouldn't be burning the coal, the state would become a major exporter.
Pike and his anti-coal-port allies are hoping that the state's environmental review of the project will kill it—but that may be a long shot. The state can't examine the impacts of the coal trains directly because they're protected by the interstate commerce clause. Instead, the state must focus its review on the port facility and, if it chooses, on the communities along the rail line.
"The state has an obligation to look beyond just the local facilities on major projects like this. It’s cradle to grave," explains Pike. "If they have to fully mitigate the costs of every community on the line—traffic and environmental impacts—the costs would kill this deal."
A draft of the state's environmental study is expected to be released in September. After that point, Washington residents will have a chance to comment on the findings.
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You know, the same way we do for road-going vehicles?
5
All aboard the metaphor train! Choo choo!
8
better to concentrate on mitigation & finding an alternate route (through canada?).
9
It's great to keep increasing the public awareness, but really, take heart. We'll get 'em.
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So, uh, fuck those trains man
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Don't want to put a lid your stinky coal trains? Boo fucking hoo. Cover that shit up or run it somewhere else, asshole.
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But mostly this is bad for environmental reasons.
Or is this actually about us hating coal and attempting to change Chinese energy policy?
(emphasis mine)
This process, of choosing, is known as scoping and will be conducted by Whatcom County, WA state, and the US Army Corps (three co-lead agencies). The public will have opportunity to review and comment on the scoping document, a draft of which should be available later this year.
If you care about this issue make sure to take part in this process.
For more specific info about when the draft scoping document will be available, contact:
Larry Altose, Ecology media relations, 206-920-2600, larry.altose@ecy.wa.gov
and/or
Tyler Schroeder, Whatcom County Planning Supervisor, 360-676-6907, tschroed@co.whatcom.wa.us
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Which I never do.
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Yes, the Chinese don't need electricity! Poverty is much more picturesque; don't the Chinese know Seattle hippies will pay good money to come 'travel' among their poor and take photos and tell everyone back home how 'touched' they were?
"why don't we keep the coal and make the shit ourselves?"
Sure, $300 a month ok?
"transition to renewable energy sources "
Solar, wind and wave wouldn't make a dent in China's energy needs over the next 30 years.
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Washington losing its aircraft industry cause of extortionist corrupt labor and Apple is eating MicrSofts alive and now the state is reduced to providing raw materials to industrial developed nations like China.
enjoy your Failed Socialist ThirdWorld Shithole.
There is one other big item, these trains ALWAYS get the green light, putting all other trains into sidings and with very little double track available it does jam up other traffic. Traffic like the 'mixed freight' trains, the ones bringing the things we buy and need to the city.
My terminal was that pit near the border, Roberts Bank, the very place the train in the video is heading and if anyone doesn't think spraying toxic coal dust onto adjacent farmland and streams has damaging effects upon crops and fish populations...they are too stupid to talk with.
There is one other big item, these trains ALWAYS get the green light, putting all other trains into sidings and with very little double track available it does jam up other traffic. Traffic like the 'mixed freight' trains, the ones bringing the things we buy and need to the city.
My terminal was that pit near the border, Roberts Bank, the very place the train in the video is heading and if anyone doesn't think spraying toxic coal dust onto adjacent farmland and streams has damaging effects upon crops and fish populations...they are too stupid to talk with.
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