Joel Connelly has the details on the public comment period for the coal train hearing next Thursday.
Previous “scoping sessions” in Whatcom, Skagit and Spokane Counties — held by the Washington Dept. of Ecology, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Whatcom County — have drawn overflow crowds.
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, and other Northwest Washington mayors, have warned about the disruption of having a succession of mile-long coal trains, bound for Cherry Point, move along the waterfronts of their cities each day. McGinn worries that after waiting for one long train to go by, waterfront traffic lineups won’t be able to clear in time for the next train.
“Transportation impacts evolve into economic impacts,” McGinn said this week.
I’m opposed to the coal trains, but if they run them, I hope the city and the state have a plan to mitigate the traffic and coal dust. So come on out and make your voice heard.
The Dec. 13 meeting in Seattle will be held at the Washington State Convention Center, Ballroom 6f. The ballroom has a capacity of 3,500 people. Doors will open at 3:30 for people to find seats, and to put down their names for the upcoming drawings.
I hate to make promises about these things, especially because I haven’t done the proper inquiries about media, but I think I’m going to live blog it.
http://www.vancouversun.com/ne.....story.html
Ship crashes into dock at Westshore Terminals, spilling coal into water (with video)
The mishap happened at 1 a.m. when the bulk carrier Cape Apricot, with a capacity of 180,000 tonnes, slammed into a trestle, the only link between the berth and the terminal, destroying more than 100 metres of it. The ship went right through the causeway, taking a road, the coal-carrying conveyor belt, and electric and water lines with it.
An aerial photo of the accident taken by radio station CKNW shows a plume of coal extending out from both ends of the broken trestle.
“There is clearly a long plume of coal dust in the ocean and coal dust is harmful to marine life. It is harmful to salmon, it is harmful to shorebirds, it is harmful to the aquatic organisms that live on the mudflats,” Washbrook said.
This what can happen when you employ a defective coal porter….
Carl,
Over at the GOS Lefty Coaster has a thread about last night’s accident and down in the comments there’s a discussion about Thursday’s public comment meeting.
Very interesting how the accident at Westshore Terminals is being ignored by mainstream media. Can’t have people reading anything negative about big corporate interests now ,can we. Gotta get a coal port built in Washington.