More than just a dirty business | Letter

Published 3:48 pm Friday, June 8, 2012

SSA Marine in conjunction with Peabody Coal is planning to build a coal terminal at Cherry Point in order to ship 54 metric tons of coal from Wyoming through the Columbia Gorge scenic area, and up the coast of Washington where it will then be shipped to China.

At Cherry Point, a wetland of over 162 acres would be filled in to hold the coal waiting to be shipped. People living all along the train route will be impacted as well as rivers, wetlands, streams and soil.

The wide-ranging health dangers of coal dust include exposure to toxic heavy metals, such as lead, selenium and mercury. Coal dust leads to increased asthma, wheezing and coughing in children. Toxic pollution from diesel exhaust is linked to stunted lung development, increased probability of heart attacks, lung cancer, worsening asthma and infant mortality.

According to BNSF’s website, these 15,000-ton trains will lose three percent of their load in transit or 1,780,000 short tons of coal dust spread annually from the Powder River Basin to the terminal. Besides breathing coal dust, there will be the added hazard of diesel fuel exhaust from the 40 trains daily.

Go to RESources.org or Power Past Coal for more information. The decision will be made in the next few months and great deal is at stake.

Burning coal is one of the prime contributors to global warming and air pollution. Coal is a dirty business.

Diane Kaufman

Friday Harbo