By Chom Greacen
Do you know that:
– the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point will be the largest coal export facility in North America?
– if the project goes forward, SJ Islands will be in the bull’s eye of the shipping traffic?
– some coal ships that will come through our waters will be “Capesize”, too big to fit through the Panama or Suez Canal and therefore must travel around the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn?
– coal ships are singled hulled, are not required to have escort tugs, but may carry as much fuel oil (mostly heavy, dirty bunker oil) as half the capacity of an oil tanker?
What are we going to do about it?
Well, we have the rare luxury of having the US Army Corps of Engineers, Whatcom County and Dept of Ecology, the lead agencies in charge of granting permits for the project, come to us to hear our inputs! Communities affected by 4 other proposed coal terminals in WA and OR do not get this luxury. We asked for this opportunity and they responded! So it is important that we show up.
Saturday Nov. 3, 12-3 p.m. at Friday Harbor High School.
This “scoping” public meeting is for us to tell these agencies what we want them to study; that’s “Scoping.” It is very important—topics of impacts and concerns left out of the scope of review won’t be studied or addressed. It’s up to us to tell them what we want included—and why.
This is not a political issue and the meeting is not political in nature. Anyone, any non-profits, organizations and even our local government agencies can raise legitimate questions and concerns about how the project may affect their work, their mission, their lives, the environment and economy. Even if you support the project, it is still important to ask if there are sufficient measures put in place to mitigate and compensate for potential impacts (such as oil spills, pollution, marine impacts, noise, etc.
From a dedicated Anti-Coal Volunteer in Bellingham:
Happy Halloween Petitioners,
As you probably already know, our first scoping hearing (here in Bellingham last Saturday) was a positive experience. We had between 1-2000 attendees, and the spirit was determined, friendly, and upbeat. Numbers of folks made inspired, oral comments before the assembly, and overall, the organization and implementation of the hearing ran smoothly. A lot of people worked tirelessly to make sure the meeting would come off without a hitch. Kudos.
Thank you for responding to the call, even if all you could do was support us in spirit. Every ounce counts. Now I will remind you that you may attend as many of these hearings as you wish. Even if you do not speak, you can lend support in numbers, and remind the EIS Co-leads that we are many and resolute. I will add the schedule at the end of this email, so you can be reminded of when and where, etc. **(look for the asterick at the bottom of the email.)
Lastly – our petition numbers are growing, but I am always ready to remind everyone to dig through their address books and invite others to join us. 10,000 is not so far off, we just need the contacts. Since I have cajoled and squeezed for months, I will aim this request in particular to the last thousand signees. Below is the URL to send out. Thank you for your spirit and dogged efforts. If we stick together, we can stop the terminal!
Lynne Oulman
https://signon.org/sign/terminal-coal-trains?source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=339496&mailing_id=6683
Let us hope that we Islanders will do as well or better!