Area residents who planned to turn out at North Seattle Community College on Tuesday, Nov. 13, to raise concerns about community threats from exporting coal from Cherry Point will now need to wait a little longer.
The Department of Ecology announced on last Wednesday, Nov. 7, that it is moving the Seattle public comment hearing to Dec. 13 and to the larger Washington State Convention & Trade Center. It will take place from 4 to 7 p.m. in Ballroom 6F.
Momentum for opposition to transporting coal through Washington state has swiftly escalated in the last few weeks, with hearings in Bellingham, Friday Harbor and Mount Vernon. Nearly 2,000 people showed up to the Bellingham hearing wearing red as a symbol of opposition to the project and gave testimony about specific concerns. More than 450 San Juan Island residents turned out at the Friday Harbor hearing on Nov. 3.
“Tribal representatives, San Juan County Council, FRIENDS of the San Juans, the San Juan Island Visitors Bureau, the San Juan National Historic Park Service Superintendent, Lopez and Orcas No COALalitions, as well as commercial fishermen, crabbers, ship captains, teachers, parents, students and pastors and nuns spoke against the proposed coal terminal at Cherry Point,” said Stephanie Buffum, Friends of the San Juans. “All were united in our concerns over the marine impacts of 974 transits from giant bulk carriers adding to the risk of an oil spill, vessel noise, introduced species, impacts to fish, wildlife, orca, the loss of 700,000 visitors to our community that already contribute over $116 million dollars and thousands of jobs from tourism.”
Many forecasted turnout for the Mount Vernon hearing on Nov. 5 to be much lower due to it coming on the eve of Election Day. Local residents surprised everyone, including hearing officials, when nearly 1,000 showed up to raise concerns on the eve of Election Day.
The postponement comes on the heels of two new reports released last week that look at the impact of increased coal-train traffic on transportation in the city and real estate values along the rail line from the Canadian border to Pierce County.
“The people of Seattle, Tacoma and Everett are just now awakening to the stunning implications of the proposal to make Washington a major player in the global coal-export industry,” Rep. Reuven Carlyle said at a news conference on Wednesday, Nov. 7, that not only covered the real estate-impacts implication but also included a group of legislators representing districts from across Washington state asking Gov. Christine Gregoire to establish a multi-agency task force to identify the statewide economic, transportation and environmental impact of a proposed coal terminal near Bellingham.
“As an export-driven state, we have a fiduciary obligation to study the economic, transportation and environmental externalities and impacts given that this would affect nearly every aspect of our state's economy for generations,” Carlyle continued.
Seattle will host the last of the seven public comment hearings in the state for coal-export terminal proposal at Cherry Point. Other upcoming hearings will be in Ferndale, on Nov. 29; Spokane, on Dec. 4; and Vancouver, on Dec. 12.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington Dept. of Ecology and the Whatcom County Council are conducting the hearings, and the events are part of the 120-day scoping process that started on Sept. 24 and ends Jan. 21, 2013.
KIMBERLY LARSON is the communications director for Climate Solutions and a member of the Power Past Coal campaign (www.powerpastcoal.org), which is working to stop coal export off the West Coast. To comment on this story, write to qamagnews@nwlink.com.