“These trains would decimate tribal fishing,” said Kate Blystone, project manager of RE Source for Sustainable Communities, a nonprofit environmental group that also is opposed to the coal trains. “Whatever you build [at Cherry Point], you will be destroying habitat. More than 400 ships a year would be added to the maritime traffic, which already has to navigate some pretty dicey waters.”
RE Source was one of the first groups to protest the rail proposals. Through effective awareness campaigns, they were able to alert businesses and concerned citizens to various hearings that were held regarding the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the projects. “Scoping for an EIS is a pretty dull process, so it doesn’t get a very high turnout at the public hearings,” Blystone said. “But for the Cherry Point project, there were 125,000 comments from the community.”
While no one from Power Past Coal or RE Source is celebrating just yet, following their Oregon victories, momentum appears to be shifting in their favor.
“[Morrow] was the first decision that was made on a proposed coal terminal and it was ‘no,’” Blystone said. “It’s not over yet, but it shows that we are winning.”
So far, more than 100 organizations, 55 municipalities, 600 healthcare professionals, 500 local businesses and 160 elected officials have expressed concern or opposition to the remaining proposals. “Coal is not our future, it’s our past,” Blystone added.
Currently, SSA Marine is in the process of submitting an alternate site plan for the Cherry Point terminal that would accelerate the timetable to create an operational facility by 2017. This permitting schedule is seven years sooner than anticipated, which has given opposition groups a renewed sense of urgency.
“Once the draft EIS comes out, we will have a very short time period to make comments,” Blystone said. “So for the next 13 months, [RE Source] will continue building awareness about the project.”
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A portion of the Bellingham, Wash., waterfront that could be impacted by increased Cherry Point rail traffic.