Comment EI-19271
Received or sent (printed as 1/5/2013)
I urge you to include in the scope of this Environmental Assessment an evaluation of the impact of this route to ship additional coal to Asia through Northwest ports on the health, water and air quality, and economies of communities along the whole railway line through Spokane, the Columbia Gorge and along the rest of the routes. The additional coal will likely lead to more frequent trains intersecting many communities, impacting emergency services, access to and quality of tourist sites along the way, and reduced air quality from the diesel emissions. In addition this additional coal being exported will potentially mean that the emissions from the coal fired power plants in Asia will be dropped across the ocean and into the air of the United States with adverse impacts on the mercury content of the food chain, ocean acidification and the air quality along the way. In addition, consideration should be given to the impact of this additional coal on the climate and ocean levels around the world as it contributes to the fossil fuels combusted and delays the shift to sustainable energy that will not have this adverse impact on climate and environmental and human health.
Submitted by: Mary Manous · Seattle, Washington
The Board publishes this comment in its environmental-comment table for this proceeding. It is quoted here as printed; nothing is inferred from it, and it states the commenter's own position in their own words, not this record's.
Permanent address docketyard.org/d/FD-30186/comment/EI-19271 · back to the docket sheet