Coal train meeting attracts 850 people to Clark College
Speakers talk about minimizing coal dust and creating jobs
Approximately 850 people on both sides of the coal train issue attended a hearing Wednesday, at Clark College. The Washington Department of Ecology and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are conducting an environmental impact statements process for a proposed terminal project in Whatcom County. Dawn Feldhaus
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Two halls in Clark College were recently overrun by men, women and children dressed in red and green T-shirts.
Some of the colorfully-clothed individuals also wore Santa hats, and they talked about coal -- not as lumps found in Christmas stockings -- but in trains that could travel through Camas and Washougal, among other cities.
Pacific International Terminals is proposing to build and operate the Gateway Pacific Terminal between Ferndale and Blaine. The terminal would provide storage and handling of coal, grain, iron ore, salts and alumina.
Whatcom County, the Washington Department of Ecology and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are conducting the environmental impact statements process for the proposed terminal project.
Approximately 850 people attended a scoping meeting at Clark, and more than 150 of them were selected in drawings to each have two minutes to speak in front of the crowds holding signs expressing sentiments against coal or for jobs.
After they are transcribed, comments submitted at the Clark College hearing will be available online at www.eisgatewaypacificwa.gov/. Additional comments, due by Jan. 21, can be emailed to comments@eisgatewaypacificwa.gov.
