Summary

King County Executive Dow Constantine commented on today’s announcement by Whatcom County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) on the scope of the environmental review they will conduct on the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal coal export facility near Bellingham.

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King County Executive Dow Constantine commented on today’s announcement by Whatcom County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), and the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) on the scope of the environmental review they will conduct on the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal coal export facility near Bellingham:

“I commend Ecology for looking beyond the local impacts of the coal terminal project and committing to statewide analysis of the impact that sending up to 18 trains a day through the heart of our communities will have on our health, environment, economy, and traffic.

“Ecology will also shine a light on the greenhouse gas emissions and climate change effects that will result from the burning of this coal, which is estimated to be greater than that from all the current emissions generated in Washington State.

“Ecology’s proposed scope is a good start, but as I have advocated before, a comprehensive and cumulative analysis of the impacts of coal export is essential for us to determine the long-term fate of the environment and economy of Washington State. To understand the full picture it is essential that our federal agencies like the Army Corps step up and conduct a region-wide, cumulative impacts analysis for all three coal terminals proposed in the Pacific Northwest.

“As a region and a nation we are on the cusp of decisions that will determine whether we invest in a clean-energy future that attracts innovation, long-term investment, and creation of sustainable, living-wage jobs – or expand reliance on extraction and export of a polluting, finite resource like coal.”