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GATEWAY PACIFIC TERMINAL information updates:
THE EIS PROCESS
The three groups that will be co-lead agencies on an Environmental Impact Statement for the Gateway Pacific bulk cargo terminal proposal at Cherry Point held an informational meeting March 20 at Bellingham High School. The schedule they described will allow 30-60 days for public comment during the "scoping” process this summer, when 3 public meetings will be held to collect suggestions on what the EIS should cover. A preliminary draft EIS will be written by a consultant, to be completed this coming fall. The lead agencies – Whatcom County, the State Department of Ecology, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – will then work on and issue a draft EIS to be released in 2013, followed by another 60-90 public comment period and public hearing. The EIS, which will be used as a resource by agencies involved in the permitting process, is due for completion during 2014. The project will need permits from various state and federal agencies, but a main point will be the Whatcom County Council’s decision on whether to grant a major project permit. "No action” (denial of permits) remains one possibility. Agreement on mitigation of issues raised in the EIS is another.
For more on the March 20 meeting, and additional documents that SSA Marine has filed with Whatcom County, see John Stark’s articles "Coal port meeting draws 800” and "SSA adds details to Gateway Pacific Terminal plans for Cherry Point” from the March 21 Bellingham Herald. For more information and resources posted by the county, click here. For information posted by Ecology, click here.
If you would like to join Whatcom County’s e-mail subscriber list for information on Gateway Pacific Terminal, send your e-mail address to pds@co.whatcom.wa.us,and in the subject line type "GPT Subscriber List."
"Coal port could mean net job loss”
John Stark, The Bellingham Herald, March 7, 2012
According to this article, the organization Communitywise Bellingham hired Public Financial Management Inc. of Philiadelphia to write an economic analysis of Gateway Pacific Terminal, which indicates that the proposed multi-purpose export terminal could cause a loss of jobs in Whatcom County if it harms tourism, waterfront redevelopment or the county’s overall image. Financial Management’s David Eichenthal, one of the authors, spoke at a public meeting March 6 in Bellingham, warning that there is little certainty about this. The possible negative impacts he reports might occur if additional coal train traffic through Bellingham makes the city’s waterfront areas less attractive or accessible, harming tourism; if they hamper efforts to redevelop the former G-P Corp. mill site; or if they harm the city’s image as an attractive place to live. Gateway owner SSA Marine, and others (noted in the paper below) suggest that coal train traffic through the city will increase with or without the terminal, as Chinese coal consumption increases and goal is exported to China through B.C. That’s far from certain, according to Eichenthal’s study. The study also suggests the environmental impact study process for the project will take four years, not two years as SSA Marine has assumed.
This is the first of several reports Communitywise Bellingham plans on the Gateway project. To download the report, click here.
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