Time is ticking on Cherry Point coal export terminal

By Sophie Williams

The Salish Sea may soon become home to the largest coal export terminal in North America. Tucked in the busy Cherry Point Aquatic Reserve between two oil refineries and an aluminum smelter, the Gateway Pacific Terminal will export 54 million tons of coal and 6 million tons of other dry bulk materials annually.

To build the Gateway Pacific Terminal, the Seattle-based company SSA Marine needs development permits from the Whatcom County Council, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers. Before it can be permitted, the project must undergo a full environmental review, led by Whatcom County and the Washington State Department of Ecology, to provide the public and the permitting agencies with a clear understanding of its environmental, health and economic consequences. 

The Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is a study of the projects impacts and the “reasonable alternatives” that could minimize its adverse effects. Reasonable alternatives could range from wetland mitigation to a recommendation of ‘no action.’ In this case, it’s worth keeping in mind that a much smaller export terminal was approved by Whatcom County in 1997, so ‘no action’ still allows SSA Marine to build at Cherry Point, albeit at only 15% of the cargo volume and with less than a third of the shipping traffic.

The first step of the EIS process is to determine the scope of the study. Scoping, which will begin for the Gateway Pacific Terminal in June of 2012, is a chance for the public, tribes, citizen groups, local government, and state and federal agencies to advocate for the impacts and geographic areas they want to be included. The State Environmental Policy Act requires that the EIS team consider environmental impacts from the source of material (the coal strip mines of the Powder River Basin) to its destination (Asia’s coal burning power plants).

Though the communities around Cherry Point may bear the brunt of the terminal’s environmental impacts, the San Juans will also feel its effects. Millions of pounds of coal dust will be lost from the terminal to the marine environment and the surrounding wetland every year. The 487 bulk carries visiting the terminal annually, among the largest in the world and many carrying upwards of 10,000 tons of bunker fuel oil, will add further pollution. Both bunker fuel and the hydrocarbons in coal dust are lethal to the eggs and larvae of many fish, including the herring that spawn at Cherry Point. Large ships also often carry invasive aquatic species in their ballast water, which could wreak further havoc on the marine ecosystem.

To make the terminal’s impacts on the San Juans part of the decision making process, our waters and waterways must be within the scope of the EIS. Take a hard look at the Gateway Pacific Terminal project proposal. If you have concerns, the EIS scoping is your chance to make your voice, and the voice of the islands, heard.

What can the Salish Sea gain from the Gateway Pacific Terminal, and what does it have to lose?

To be notified of actions by Whatcom County Planning and Development Services regarding Gateway Pacific Terminal, send an e-mail to pds@co.whatcom.wa.us with “GPT Subscriber List” in the subject line.

There is a pre-scoping meeting to explain the scoping process on March 20, 6-8pm, in the Bellingham High School theater, 2020 Cornwall Ave.

Coal cargo terminal at Cherry Point raises concern

(From Islands Weekly, http://www.islandsweekly.com/news/138783389.html)
By Phillip Holder


The San Juan Islands face a significant increase in large cargo ship traffic under a proposal to build the largest yet coal terminal in North America at Cherry Point, near Ferndale. Annually, ships measuring up to three football fields in length will make over 950 passages (nearly three per day) transporting tens of millions of tons of Wyoming coal to China.

Photo/ Paul K. Anderson

A coal train passes along the Bellingham waterfront.

SSA Marine/Carrix (owned 49 percent by Goldman Sachs), Peabody Coal, and BNSF railroad want to move 48 millions tons of coal annually, from Wyoming's Powder River Basin strip mines on publicly owned lands, to a 350 acre coal terminal to be built northwest of Bellingham. Carried by up to 18 uncovered trains a day, each up to 1.6 miles long, the coal would be piled at Cherry Point. To prevent spontaneous combustion, the coal will have to be turned over regularly with huge front-end loaders – creating significant dust. From the coal terminal, the coal will be loaded on Capesize — too big for Panama Canal passage — and Panamax ships, and transported  through the Salish Sea for burning by power plants in Asia. The ships would return empty of cargo, each carrying up to 17 million gallons of Asian ballast water, to be released before coal reloading at Cherry Point.
Proponents tout that jobs will be created at Cherry Point, and say that the proposal will help the trade balance between the U.S and China.  But some on the islands and the mainland wonder whether the overall costs of this scheme actually exceed the benefits, and point to several potential impacts on communities, businesses, and the Salish Sea ecosystem.
“In the San Juan islands, 95 percent of the herring that is available to be eaten comes from the shallows around Cherry Point,” said Russell Barsh, director of Kwiaht, the Lopez-based Center for the Historical Ecology of the Salish Sea. “Cherry Point is the last remaining spawning area that hasn't been severely impacted by people, and a coal terminal there would have a huge negative impact. Herring is the basis for marine life in the central Salish sea, and we don't have enough as it is to support seals, dolphins, salmon, and sea birds.”
Barsh also raises concerns about increased shipping traffic,
“There's too many close passes and close misses,” he said. “With so many of these huge ships navigating our waters, it's only a matter of time before there's a major accident, and the consequences to sea life would be extremely high.”
Other potential problems include:
-loss of tourism, customers, business revenues, and jobs, and damage to the islands' quality of life
-delays of ferry and private marine transportation;  safety hazards to small fishing, commuter, recreational, and tour boats;
- spillage of coal, oil and/or fuel from vessel mishaps
- traffic delays at “at-grade” rail crossings on mainland traffic routes connecting to marine transportation to the islands
- substantial taxpayer revenues required to mitigate these impacts.
SSA Marine is required by federal and state law and Whatcom County regulations to obtain several permits from federal, state, and local government agencies. The permitting process will include preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement under state and federal laws to address the impacts of the project. The initial step in preparing an EIS is called "scoping." During the scoping phase, members of the public can raise issues they believe need to be studied. The scoping period has not yet been announced but is expected sometime this spring.
"The whole situation is very interesting to me. Enduring impacts from natural resource exports to other countries is perhaps an unfamiliar phenomenon for the U.S. but it is very commonplace in developing countries,” said Chom Greacon, a member of the Islands Energy Coalition and an international energy consultant.  “A difference here is that much of China's hunger for coal (75 percent of energy demand is from the industrial sector) is driven by  exports of consumers goods to countries around the world, including the US. So in a way, consumption in the U.S. is partially responsible for the demand for coal extraction and export. It's certainly crucial to consider the impacts of the coal train but also important to connect the issue to a more personal level."
Lopez residents can hear details and ask questions at the “Ships, Spills and Sea-Level Rise - Coal Hard Truth” forum, moderated by Matt Krogh, North Sound Baykeeper with RESources for Sustainable Communities on Tuesday, Feb.7, 6 - 8 p.m., Lopez Center for Community and the Arts.

On Thurs. Feb. 9, a similar forum will be conducted on San Juan, Feb. 9, Friday Harbor High School Commons, 6 p.m.

(Chris Greacon and Doug Poole of the Islands Energy Coalitions contributed to this article.)