Mon., Feb. 27, 2012

Another Green Monday: In the coal train poll, majority opposes

The coal train ride keeps getting bumpier.

In case you missed it, there was a great train on the issue of coal trains in yesterday's Spokesman by Jan Hoem, chairman of Montana Elders for a Livable Tomorrow. This article came right after news of the Millennium Bulk Terminals proposal to build a $600 million terminal west of Longview to export 44 million tons of coal annually, an amount that would make it one of the largest such facilities in North America.

The risks of this proposal were well outlined:

• Railroad engines burn diesel. Documented health effects of diesel emissions near busy rail yards (Spokane and Portland) include chronic heart and lung disease, and asthma. The very young and elderly are most affected. Cancer is also implicated.

• Pollution released from burning coal, including toxins like mercury, is carried from China and elsewhere back to us on worldwide air currents. Contrary to the coal industry’s barrage of “clean coal” ads, coal remains the dirtiest major fuel. The United States just passed a law limiting mercury and toxic emissions from power plants. China has no such law.

• Waiting up to 10 minutes at rail crossings in bisected communities may only be an inconvenience, unless an ambulance, firetruck or wildfire is involved. Then minutes count.

• Trains disrupt people’s sleep, affecting their alertness and health. Whistles and the noise of cars coupling can be heard for miles.

• Property values are affected by rail traffic, noise and limited access.

The list goes on, of course, but I'll stop there.

It will be several months before Cowlitz County commissioners make any decision on the newly proposed Millennium Bulk Terminals coal terminal Millennium filed an application for a county shoreline permit for the project last week which begins the review process and given the scope and complexity of the project, it could be six months before the commissioners take a vote.

It was only this time last year Millennium grossly understated the planned scale of the operation. “Court records show that leaders of the company planning to build the facility, now called Millennium Bulk Terminals, tried to limit what state officials knew about its long-term goals during the early permitting process last year,” the New York Times reported. “The company’s initial application described a facility that could export up to five million tons of coal per year. But court records show that the company hoped to greatly expand that amount in a second phase to 20 million tons or even 60 million tons annually."

Now the stakes are higher.

Meanwhile, take the coal poll HERE.

As of this time, the results stood at 57% no, 36% yes. You can "Power Past Coal," locally, HERE.

The Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper and the Spokane Riverkeeper’s are co-sponsoring a Coal Hard Truth Forum with the Sierra Club on March 1 at 6:30 pm in Sandpoint’s Panida’s Little Theater. For more information visit, lakependoreillewaterkeeper.org or call (208) 597-7188.

Posted Feb. 27, 2012, 10 p.m.