Unfair impact on Marysville
Published 12:01 am Friday, July 29, 2011
A hot political debate is underway in Whatcom County over a proposal to build a coal shipping terminal. It has a worrisome connection to Snohomish County — and Marysville, in particular — that state officials mustn’t overlook.
SSA Marine, a Bellevue-based seaport operator, has proposed constructing a port at Cherry Point, north of Bellingham, to ship coal mined in Montana and Wyoming to Asian ports, primarily in China. It has sparked plenty of controversy in the Bellingham area, with business and labor arguing for the jobs that would be created (estimates are 2,000 temporary construction jobs and about 200 permanent longshoremen’s jobs) and environmentalists opposing a role in helping China produce more greenhouse-gas emissions, along with local pollution impacts.
So what’s the effect on Marysville? Train traffic. Lots of it. Mayor Jon Nehring argues — quite correctly, we think — that the project would bring significant ill-effects to his city, and no benefits.
Plans call for coal to be transported by rail, eventually making its way up the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe corridor from Vancouver, Wash., and through Seattle, Edmonds, Mukilteo, Everett and Marysville to its destination at Cherry Point. Trains carrying open loads of coal would be about 1.5 miles long. Nine trains would run north each day and, presumably, just as many empty ones could run south.
In Marysville, the BNSF tracks run closely parallel to I-5. The city has 14 crossings, chief administrative officer Gloria Hirashima said, none with any grade separation. When a long train comes through a crossing, traffic freezes, backing up into intersections and jarring nerves.
Imagine the cumulative effect of nine trains, each a mile and a half long, rumbling through town each day. Traffic at three major crossings — 4th Street, 88th Street NE and 116th Street NE — could all be blocked at once. Gridlock would become an exasperating way of life. Commerce would be stymied.
Review of the proposal is being handled jointly by the state Department of Ecology and Whatcom County. Clearly, the state’s responsibility extends to impacts beyond the Cherry Point area, and must include the severe impacts to cities along the entire rail corridor.
We understand the state’s interest in permanent, good-paying jobs. But one area’s gain shouldn’t cause another undue pain. The adverse impact on Marysville’s business climate and quality of life must be acknowledged and addressed.
Without effective mitigation, which would likely require rail overpasses that could cost the state tens of millions of dollars, this much train traffic through the heart of the county’s second-largest city can’t be justified.
