Little for Spokane in coal

Coal trains rumbling through Spokane and the Inland Empire spewing forth dust and toxic diesel fumes! Well, maybe. No one knows for sure yet what the impact might be. What we do know: Rathdrum refueling station over the aquifer, huge problem. Emergency vehicles held up at railroad crossings, huge problem. If diesel fumes are an issue, then we better outlaw all diesel-burning vehicles from our streets and highways. That won’t happen in our lifetime.

Another interesting issue is that some people are eager to disembowel our country of millions of tons of coal and other minerals and millions of barrels of oil and ship it all to other countries. Of course, the almighty dollar comes into play here. How much of that mighty dollar will Spokane receive? I think compared to what some people will receive it won’t be much. What we will get in return, at a high expense, are the wind-borne particles from the spent fuel that we provide these other countries; just like the tsunami that is responsible for garbage being deposited on our beaches. High-level winds will pick up the toxic particulates from China and deposit them right here in River City.

George Britton

Spokane