On Oct. 27, the
Squalicum High School gymnasium filled with a spirited audience who wore
matching colors and sounded like thunder when their feet stomped the bleachers.
This crowd was more diverse than the one usually seen on a high school campus;
community members of all ages had come together for a scoping hearing about the
proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point.
An environmental
journalist, an ex-mayor, professors, teachers, a retired railroad conductor, a
scientist, members of the Lummi Nation, an asthma sufferer, a white-water
rafter, and a local farmer were a few of the speakers who graced the gymnasium
floor to outline what they wanted to see investigated by the Environmental
Impact Statement on the coal terminal project.
During the scoping process, the co-lead
agencies, made up of the Whatcom County council, Washington State Dept. of
Ecology and the Army Corps of Engineers, team up with environmental consulting
company CH2M Hill to listen to the public’s concerns and requests for what
should appear on the EIS. In total there will be seven scoping hearings, but
this was the first and only in Bellingham.
Crowds had begun
forming hours before Squalicum was opened to the public. Hundreds stood outside
in pouring rain with signs and chants, distributing free t-shirts and making
speeches that, despite being difficult to hear amidst the hubbub, stirred up
cheers. By the time doors opened at 11 a.m., the crowd was soaked.
Kristin Holme, a
spokesperson for CH2M Hill, laid ground rules for the hearing. She asked the
crowd not to make any noise in reaction to the speakers, who were given a
number and two minutes apiece to address the audience and the co-lead agencies.
“There is going to be no cheering today. If
something resonates with you, hold up your arms or your signs,” Holme said.
Regardless,
attendees periodically hollered, clapped and stomped in support of the mostly
anti-coal community members. Holme paused the proceedings at least 10 times to
“remind you of the ground rules.” The quieter portion of the audience remained
active, silently raising their arms and placards to show agreement.
Speakers brought
up a wide variety of issues for the Environmental Impact Statement to tackle,
among them impacts on salmon and orca habitats, the effects of anchoring ships
in Bellingham Bay, toxic fumes from coal, train derailment risks, contributing
to China’s economy, slowed response times for ambulances and fire trucks, water
pollution, and the effects on polar bears as a result of global warning.
One woman made
her statement in the form of a poem. A member of the Lummi Nation used half of
her allotted two-minute speaking time in silent reverence, asking the audience
to “silently contemplate the deaths that will be caused by this big company.”
Supporters of
the terminal didn’t appear at the podium much and were vastly outnumbered by
their red-T-shirt-wearing counterparts. However, coal-supporting families and
workers made their presence known with green shirts and signs that read “Get
Bellingham Back To Work.”
Mcleod Road,
which leads up to the high school, nearly drowned in a deluge of opposing
signage on the way to the scoping hearing. Hundreds of pro-coal placards
silently argued with signs proclaiming “No Coal Exports,” “Coal Costs Us,”
“Beyond Coal,” and even “Coal Is Blood!”
According to the
Washington Dept. of Ecology, the scoping process will last until January 2013,
at which point the co-lead agencies will begin drafting the EIS. After they
have circulated the draft to the public they will hold another meeting in which
people can comment on it and request further revisions. If all goes according
to schedule, the final EIS will be issued in 2014.
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