several coal export terminals proposed in the northern half
of the state.
Bob Ferris of Cascadia Wildlands says studies around
the Westshore Terminals port, even before the recent
accident, show the impact of fugitive coal dust — dust that
escapes during coal shipment — “and basically it’s created
a set of dead zones around that coal port.”
“Coal has a lot of toxic properties,” Ferris says. “It has
a lot of carbon and nitrogen, which will do things to the
acidy of the water, and it has a lot of iron, which will take
oxygen out of the water.”
Ferris says spilled coal and coal dust are not the only
dangers to aquatic life; dredging in the estuaries to allow the
massive ships in is also destructive. The ships themselves, he
says, are generally old and registered in countries that don’t
do a lot of safety inspections. “These bulk carriers are kind of
the most dangerous ships on the sea, huge, underpowered,
with small rudders and generally not well maintained.”
He says while in port, the bulk carriers run their engines
and burn about four tons of diesel a day “just to keep the
lights on,” sending diesel particulates into the water and
into people’s lungs. While California has instituted a “cold
ironing” requirement where ships stop running engines and
plug into shore power to decrease pollution, Oregon and
Washington, where the new coal export terminals are being
proposed, have no such rules.
A Sierra Club study of Ambre Energy’s Morrow Pacific
project says even with measures such as covered coal
barges on the Columbia River instead of open rail cars,
storage barns with air scrubbers and enclosed conveyor
belts, that project would still violate federal air quality
standards. — Camilla Mortensen
lighten up
BY RAFAEL AL DAVE
It’s time to point out to the right-wing ideologues in
Congress that believing strongly in their cause doesn’t
make up for being stupid.
ACTIVIST
LERT
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