Anti-coalies Crash Rep. Larsen Masquerade Party; EPA Weighs in on Region’s Coal Terminalator Proposals and More

by Preston Schiller

Some of the major happenings since the March 20 meeting reported upon in the April 2012 Whatcom Watch include (most recent first):

April 19: The New York Times’, with the help of a coal train photo taken by Bellinghamite Paul Anderson, (www.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/us/boardman-ore-considers-a-future-in-coal.html?_r=2&hp) William Yardley takes a long look at the several interests, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who are urging the authorities reviewing coal terminal proposals, such as the Cherry Point proposal, to take a wide view of impacts and to consider the serious consequences of the various proposals taken together: ‘“All of these projects — and others like them — would have several similar impacts,’ Kate Kelly, the director of the Office of Ecosystems, Tribal and Public Affairs for the Environmental Protection Agency in Seattle, wrote to the Army Corps of Engineers this month. ‘Consider, for example, the cumulative impacts to human health and the environment from increases in greenhouse gas emissions, rail traffic, mining activity on public lands and the transport of ozone, particulate matter, and mercury from Asia to the United States.’ The latter refers to pollution from coal-fired plants in Asia potentially reaching the West Coast.” This matter was also covered between April 17-19 in The Bellingham Herald by John Stark’s “Politics Blog” which added links to the EPA and Yakama Nation’s letters, as well as an AP article at The Bellingham Herald.

April 16-17: Whatcom County’s Planning and Development Services (PDS) issued a “Notice of Application for Gateway Pacific Terminals Major Project Permit, Zoning Variance and Shoreline Substantial Development Permit” which greatly added to the confusion of the process by causing many to think that there were only 30 days in which to comment on the Gateway Pacific (coal) Terminal (GPT) application. Among the indignant trying to understand this document and its ramifications for public process was planning-savvy former Bellingham City Council person, John Watts, at bellinghamstertalk.blogspot.com. But, never fear, environmental law expert Jean Melious came forward to rescue John and the rest of us from PDS’s incomprehensibility with her slightly less confusing getwhatcomplanning.blogspot.com “30 - no, 28 Days to Comment on Coal Port” posting that clarifies that Whatcom County’s notice is not about scoping comments but about comments about the application, but you could go ahead and comment or wait … or whatever.

April 15: The U-U’s (Unitarian Fellowship) hosted a Coal Terminal Organization Fair. Should it have been billed as “anti-coal terminal?” Approximately 85-100 persons showed up to glean information, especially about Environmental Impact Statement Scoping from (according to their publicity) “Coal Free Bellingham, Protect Whatcom, Coal Free Whatcom, Whatcom Docs, Power Past Coal, Safeguard the South Fork, Coal Train Facts and more!”

April 10: While the leadership of the Whatcom Dems diddles around the issue of the coal terminal, and grassroots Dems throughout Whatcom and Skagit Counties pass a resolution calling for a wide review of environmental impacts, over 70 protestors gathered outside pro-coalie Rep. Rick Larsen’s pricey fund raiser at Bellingham’s Masquerade Wine Company. The event was hosted by Masquerade’s Bill and Jennifer Kimmerly, (former state) Sen. Harriet Spanel, and, unsurprisingly, SSA-GPT’s front man Craig Cole. For more details on the Whatcom Dems and the fundraiser see the Politics Blog of The Bellingham Herald for April 16, 2012, especially Protect Whatcom Terry Wechsler’s comment and posting of the resolution at the end of the blog post.

April 2: Whatcom County’s PDS issues a determination that the permit applications filed by SSA Marine for the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal are complete.  These permits include the major project, shoreline substantial development, and zoning variance permits.  The next step in the permit process will be an issuance of a notice of application, to be done within 14 days.  This notice of application will not include the State Environmental Policy Act Determination of Significance, and scoping notice.

April 1: Protect Whatcom and legal expert Terry Wechsler began circulation of a petition urging Whatcom County’s PDS to address a long list of impacts they have detailed.

April 12: “Gregoire needs to weigh in on proposed coal-terminal,” op-ed by Stephan Michaels.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2017969340_guest13michaels.html

April 11: Cascadia Weekly’s Tim Johnson published two very well crafted pro-coal letters from folks presenting themselves as ordinary long-time residents. Tim added the following note: “Interestingly these two letters arrived the same day from different addresses, in similar envelopes, types in an identical font with identical margins on identical paper—telltales, whatever their other merits, of an organized letter effort.” Really, Tim, you’re not suggesting that the well-trained and highly paid PR folks at GPT might have helped write, print, and lick the stamps for letters from the “coal roots?” In the same issue Alan Rhodes interviewed recent Bellingham City Council addition Cathy Lehman who, disappointingedly, seemed somewhat equivocal about what her (“emerging”) coal trains and coal terminal position might be. Watchers, please help Councilmember Cathy on this issue.

April 11: RE Sources blogger and staffer Lindsay Taylor posts an excellent “From Extraction to Export: Dirty Lies About Clean Coal” at http://blog.re-sources.org to welcome anti-mountaintop removal Appalachian Voices to a Bellingham April 20 YWCA event.

April 11: at crosscut.com Daniel Jack Chasan publishes an excellent analysis of Pacific Northwest coal exporting focusing mainly on one problematic proposal with relevance for many more, “Coos Bay’s dirty little (coal) secret.”

April 3: Oregon Public Broadcasting Ecotrope’s Cassandra Profita posts an in-depth/insider look in “’Desperate’ To Export: A Coal Industry Close-Up” with independent coal industry analyst Darren Epps who is skeptical about how long Asian, especially Chinese, demand for coal will last (until they develop their own efficient infrastructure) as well as questioning whether all or even any of the proposed projects will be realized. A definite must-read with a link posted at communitywisebellingham.org’s news section.

March 30-April 10: Several good postings and links at CoalTrainFacts.org about surging U.S. coal exports, and more local developments (Whatcom County PDS, Power Past Coal FAQs on environmental review, etc.)

Take a look at several articles in March from Billings, Mont., coal country questioning the impacts of expanded coal shipments at www.billingsnews.com or links at John Stark’s Bellingham Herald Politics Blog for March 28.

March 27: Courtney Platt and Ashley Ahearn of Northwest Public Radio devote some airspace to the coal terminal/trains issue and interview Whatcom Doc Frank James and University of Washington environmental health professor Joel Kaufman about the health risks associated with these matters: http://www.nwpr.org/post/coal-train-traffic-increase-could-be-bad-news-human-health

March 21: Bellingham’s own Floyd McKay posts an interesting perspective on SSA-GPT’s application documents in the wake of the pre-scoping informational meeting of March 20: “Coal port advocates narrow the range of environmental impacts.”

“Our Goal! No Coal!” Noon march from City Hall to Maritime Heritage Park, Guest speaker, Mayor Kelli Linville!!!

http://www.living-democracy.org/community-events; 350.org Bellingham; Climate Impacts Day 5/5

RE Sources plans several community outreaches in coming weeks around the Environmental Impact Statement; check their website as well as communitywisebellingham.org, www.coaltrainfacts.org, and protectwhatcom.org for ongoing news AND support Whatcom Watch’s efforts to disseminate news and perspectives as widely as possible in the Bellingham-Whatcom area. In other words, please join that illustrious list of donors and supporters that appears each month on Whatcom Watch’s back page. Or remain anonymous. But send that check now or you’ll end up with more than one piece of coal in your next Xmas stocking!