From Donna Riordan, Orcas No Coalition
Friday Harbor residents turned out in force to march against Coal.
Some 85 concerned residents and friends of the San Juan Islands marched and chanted in opposition to the proposed Gateway Pacific terminal at Cherry Point in Bellingham at the Friday Harbor July 4 parade.
If approved this terminal would invite Cape-size vessels measuring one quarter mile in length to travel through the narrow channels of the San Juan Islands in the Salish Sea, home to three resident pods of Orca whales.
These single-hulled ships (which do not require a tug escort) carrying coal to be burned in China, present threats including increased chance of oil spills, hazards to the viability of all marine life including the Orca population, decreased waterfront property values, deflation of the tourism and fishing industries, and the addition of carbon pollution, a health risk for Earths’s atmosphere.
San Juan Islanders made quite a statement about coal in our waters.
Here is a link to the YouTube video,
