Are coal trains worth the daily disruptions?
Published 7:30 pm Tuesday, April 3, 2012
SSA Marine of Seattle filed its permit application March 19 for a proposed terminal at Cherry Point north of Bellingham. Official project scoping could start by June. If approved, it would mean, every day, nine full coal trains a mile and a half long would come from Montana or Wyoming, travel to the Columbia River and then head north from Vancouver through all the cities along Puget Sound, including Edmonds. The coal would be loaded onto huge Capesize cargo ships going to China. Nine empty trains most likely would return through Everett, Monroe and over the mountains.
Many regional organizations throughout Washington and Oregon have joined forces to oppose coal trains passing through their communities due to a host of concerns, including environmental, health, transportation, public services, local economies, quality of life – even greenhouse gases that affect global warming.
Proponents offer that the terminal would be a boon to the local economy. Crosscut.com wrote that the permit application indicated: “The terminal itself would only directly employ 89 workers on-site in 2016 and 213 upon full buildout in 2026; most would be longshoremen. The report claims that associated jobs created by the project (including 44 staff jobs and 173 workers in rail and marine jobs) would boost the total to 430, although most of the rail and marine jobs would not be local hires.” There would be temporary construction jobs estimated up to 2,100. Is it worth it?
U.S. demand for coal is decreasing. Coal companies with mines in the United States want to get their product to overseas markets in Asia. They’re hustling to get a terminal anywhere. There are additional proposals and applications filed in Longview and Grays Harbor in this state, and St. Helens, Boardman and Coos Bay in Oregon. Portland didn’t want one because in the past it had prepared its terminal for coal shipments only to have the market collapse.
If all are approved, it could mean 63 trains would travel around the Northwest, disrupting life daily. All trains would pass right through Spokane (how sad for Spokane). And every city they pass through would receive no benefits, only problems. That’s why SSA Marine doesn’t want the decision-makers to consider rail issues outside the terminal facilities, nor the hundreds of huge ships per year clogging the shipping lanes with the scoping.
Participate in monthly planning meetings at Frances Anderson Center, 700 Main St., at 6:30 p.m. every first Wednesday in room 206. Contact r_bisbee@msn.com for more information.
Richard Bisbee is a member of Sustainable Edmonds but his thoughts are his own.
