Comment EI-20078
Received or sent (printed as 1/16/2013)
As a Bellingham resident and American/ global citizen, I have great concern for the social and environmental impacts of the proposed Cherry Point Coal Terminal. The coal port will affect the immediate site on which it is built, the surrounding ecology and human populations, as well as many people near the mining operations, along the train routes for the coal, and in proximity of the shipping lanes for the tanker vessels not to mention the vast carbon dioxide, monoxide, and various aromatic hydrocarbon releases from the combustion of the coal in China, which this project facilitates. First the most immediate effects: Cherry Point supports 50% of herring spawning within Puget Sound and the herring populations are highly sensitive to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs, which coal has a lot of. A postponement of construction should be put in place until baseline studies of Cherry Point Herring populations can be established to see how they will respond to the PAH contamination. Eelgrass, in which the herring spawn, is also highly sensitive to chemical contaminants and siltation so mitigation measures should be considered before ground is broken on site. The herring populations are the primary food source for pacific salmon in Puget Sound which are food for large mammals including orca whales and seals/sealions. Studies should be designed to determine the vulnerability of herring populations to collapse and the subsequent effects to salmon and large mammal populations. Many native fisherman depend on these fisheries for their livelyhood and the tourism industry also depends on these species. The tankers also have a large impact on marine life. Studies should be designed to sample underwater and abovewater noise and vibration pollution and its effects on bird migration and nesting as well as the effects on fish populations and whale and marine mammal communication, breeding, and wellbeing. Tankers also emit fuels waste to the air and water which impacts marine plants and animals and the risk of spills of coal is substantial at any point along the shipping lanes. Studies of the impacts of a tanker spill/sinking should be conducted for, at port, in puget sound, open ocean and other locations. The risks of invasive species introduction through the ballast dumping at the terminal also puts local marine populations in danger. Studies of potential invasive species and strict regulation of ballast exchange could lessen these effects. The trains that transport the coal from Wyoming also pose huge environmental health risks. Coal dust provides a continuous contaminant that can accumulate in aquifers across the Northwest, polluting water sources for millions of Americans and all wetlands, streams and estuaries associated with the watersheds. Agricultural plots can also be contaminated and many lie along the trail routes. Studies to determine the extent of contamination and possible alternative options like covered traincars or sealant or a no action proposal. PAHs from coal dust can also poison animals and plants throughout the northwest, destroying the natural resources that contribute to our wellbeing. These coal dusts contribute to cancer and asthma rates and weaken human immune systems. The highest population densities in urban areas are most susceptible to these effects. Noise pollution is also a result of 50 1.5 mile long trains per day (20 up the coast). Animal migration routs will be impacted and must be monitored. The noise impacts on humans are also substantial. Many people living close to the tracks will lose sleep time and sleep quality decreasing health and stressing the immune system. Vibrations impact sensitive instrumentation and structural stability of buildings near the tracks. Property values decrease and social venues become futile with such constant distraction. Traffic is held up and access to the shorefront is limited. The bellingham port has enormous potential for commercial use and environmental cleanup, but this will be unreasonable with constant trains passing through. These impacts are temporally and spatially localized and it is difficult for the EIS to cover a global perspective or look generations into the future. Global warming is a serious issue and our rapid releases of greenhouse gasses threaten to surpass a threshold at which the global environment will no longer be able to buffer the climate effects. Oceanic acidification corrodes the shells of diatoms which provide by far the largest carbon sink and oxygen source on the planet. If these populations collapse, rapid carbon increases in the atmosphere would feedback on itself with further acidification and temperature increase. This tragedy of the common atmosphere and oceans can only be avoided by regulation international and interstate trade in situations just such as this. Our Clean Air Act was imposed to prevent releases of CO2 from burning of fossil fuels but this coal terminal facilitates the braking of the Clean Air Act by shipping it to China to be released into the same atmosphere. What is the use of our environmental regulations if corporations like Peabody Coal continue to pollute through technicalities? The impacts of this scoping decision will have permanent global consequences so it is in humanities best interest to analyze all impacts meticulously. The moralities of local populations contradict those of corporate investors like Goldman Sachs or Warren Buffet and so often the costs do not fall upon those who profit. Do we have the right to rob subsequent generations of their resources, of their environment, of their health without consent for unustained profit?
Submitted by: Ethan Holzer · Bellingham, 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-20078 · back to the docket sheet