Coal train concerns shared with Spokane community

Resistance is growing to a proposal that would bring 40-50 additional coal-laden trains rumbling through Spokane each day. These trains, which would spew diesel particulates and coal dust, and offer residents no incentives in return, are just part of a proposal by the world’s largest coal companies to mine up to 100 million tons per year in Montana and Wyoming, route it through Spokane and ship it to power-hungry Asian markets like China via newly constructed ports on Washington’s coast. “We the people can stop this. We can, we must, and we will,” said Joelle Robinson, field director of Climate Solutions, one of more than 50 Northwest organizations trying to educate the community on the potential impacts of this project and to mobilize opposition. Others involved groups include The Lands Council, the Sierra Club, and the Spokane Riverkeeper. These organizations sponsored a Coal Hard Truth forum and panel last week at Spokane’s Lincoln Center. Panel members included Spokane City Council members Amber Waldref and Bob Apple, North Sound Baykeeper Matt Krogh, and pediatric emergency physician Dr. Robert Tuckner. Facilitating the discussion were Riverkeeper Bart Mihailovich, his co-host on the Down to Earth radio show Paul Dillon, plus Robinson, and the Sierra Club’s Robin Everett. About 100 citizens attended. The conversation began with Spokane-specific impacts (health, congestion, noise, pollution and clean water) but concluded on larger note of global climate change. According to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, coal use now accounts for roughly 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. First to speak was North Sound Baykeeper Matt Krogh, who explained that many Bellingham residents are fighting against the proposal by Peabody Coal and SSA Marine to ship the coal from Cherry Point, an aquatic reserve that provides crucial spawning habitat for herring and is known for habitat diversity. Another coastal export facility is being proposed in Longview. Krogh warned that the added shipping traffic would not only disrupt aquatic life but would dramatically increase the likelihood of collisions and oil spills. Krogh said coal companies are promising 200 jobs to the Bellingham community, a benefit Krogh says is greatly outweighed by the irreversible environmental destruction that this project would cause. Tuckner agreed, saying the jobs are really a cost shift. While 200 employees would earn wages and benefits, the added health care costs associated with treating illnesses caused and worsened by increased exposure to diesel particulates and coal dust would negate economic incentives. He went on to present what breathing diesel particulates and coal dust means for human health, and if the companies send the proposed 100 million tons of coal each year through Spokane County, they will pump 100,000 pounds of diesel particulate matter into our air. While no one knows exactly how much coal dust actually blows off of the mile-and-a-half long trains during transit, Tuckner’s research concluded that for every 60 million tons of transported coal, 23 million pounds of coal dust gets left behind, or 50 pounds of dust per coal car. Tuckner worries that because the health threats are largely invisible, people will not mobilize. He said it’s is far easier to mobilize people against something more obvious, scary, and dramatic. “The problem with diesel particulate matter is that it’s not dramatic. It kills you, but kills you real slow,” he said. “You can breathe this stuff all day and not even know it, but how it kills you is it creates an inflammatory reaction.” According to newer data, asthma, heart disease and obesity, are all inflammatory diseases. Tuckner concluded that after we pillage our lands through mining, ingest dangerous amounts of dust and particulate matter, and permanently disrupt fragile coastal ecosystems, we get to breathe in the pollution when China burns it since the airstream will blow it back east - all for 200 jobs. Apple and Waldref said they still have questions about the project, but from what they knew so far, it would likely pose huge threats to our quality of life. They also agreed to look at a proposed ordinance banning trains, as suggested by one audience member, but said that they doubted its ability to actually prevent the activity due to the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which empowers Congress to regulate commerce across state lines. Following the panel, Everett and Robinson shared the project’s current status and what can be done to prevent it. First, the coal companies are expected to apply for the building permits for the export terminals in the next couple of months. Those applications will trigger an Environmental Impact Assessment process, wherein the project proponents must disclose all potential environmental impacts. The first step is to determine the “scope” of the project; which will define the area that must be assessed for environmental impacts. The scoping process is expected to begin in January, at which point anti-coal leaders will urge Spokane residents to submit comments detailing negative impacts on our city. The more people that express concerns, the more likely that Peabody Coal and SSA Marine will have to include those impacts in their EIA. The goal, Everett says, is to demand that a scoping hearing take place in Spokane. The companies will try to define the scope of the project as narrowly as possible, Everett explained, so it is our community’s job to broaden the scope to include all communities between the mining site and the Pacific. The Power Past Coal Coalition is asking opponents to express their concerns to Washington’s Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark and Gov. Christine Gregoire, plus neighbors, teachers, churches, and local elected officials. They should also attend monthly volunteer meetings. Everett and Robinson said that grassroots organizing is the most effective way to influence decision-makers and to combat the mega coal companies, railways, and wealthy financiers. “We need to continue to fight and to not grow weary, because that’s what they expect,” Everett said.