Group pushing to ban coal shipments through Bellingham
BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- A Whatcom County group is declaring war on coal.
Coal-Free Bellingham wants to ban the shipment of any coal through the city of Bellingham, either by rail or by road. The movement is an effort to block a terminal that would ship U.S. coal to China.
SSA Marine of Seattle wants to build a $500 million terminal at Cherry Point west of Bellingham to ship 24 million tons of coal to China each year. It's also the beach where Mary Ann Hanson has walked nearly every day for 10 years.
"This is a free beach open to anybody. And it still is a beach. There is no coffee stand. There's no sidewalk. It's natural. It's beautiful," Hanson said.
Hanson sees nothing beautiful in coal. She worries about dust, pollution and trains a mile and a half long. But others say if environmental guarantees are met, coal could be beautiful.
"We have a real lack of family wage jobs here. And what this would do is provide us with a good union job base in this community that we have very little of," said Ken Oplinger of the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce.
Oplinger says the feds regulate railroads and no one can stop the train; all they can do is protect the environment.
Don't tell that to Coal-Free Bellingham. The group has an initiative to make it illegal to ship coal through their city.
"The legal system says we can't do it, but the moral system says the people who live in a community should have a say in that community," said Stoney Bird.
Don't try to tell Bird or his friends they can't do this.
"What we are headed for now is a train wreck, and that is what we are trying to prevent -- a train wreck," he said.
The group plans to file the initiative on Friday. The group needs to collect some 5,000 signatures to get the issue on the November ballot.
Coal-Free Bellingham wants to ban the shipment of any coal through the city of Bellingham, either by rail or by road. The movement is an effort to block a terminal that would ship U.S. coal to China.
SSA Marine of Seattle wants to build a $500 million terminal at Cherry Point west of Bellingham to ship 24 million tons of coal to China each year. It's also the beach where Mary Ann Hanson has walked nearly every day for 10 years.
"This is a free beach open to anybody. And it still is a beach. There is no coffee stand. There's no sidewalk. It's natural. It's beautiful," Hanson said.
Hanson sees nothing beautiful in coal. She worries about dust, pollution and trains a mile and a half long. But others say if environmental guarantees are met, coal could be beautiful.
"We have a real lack of family wage jobs here. And what this would do is provide us with a good union job base in this community that we have very little of," said Ken Oplinger of the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce.
Oplinger says the feds regulate railroads and no one can stop the train; all they can do is protect the environment.
Don't tell that to Coal-Free Bellingham. The group has an initiative to make it illegal to ship coal through their city.
"The legal system says we can't do it, but the moral system says the people who live in a community should have a say in that community," said Stoney Bird.
Don't try to tell Bird or his friends they can't do this.
"What we are headed for now is a train wreck, and that is what we are trying to prevent -- a train wreck," he said.
The group plans to file the initiative on Friday. The group needs to collect some 5,000 signatures to get the issue on the November ballot.
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