STATEMENT FROM BETH DOGLIO, CAMPAIGN DIRECTOR FOR POWER PAST COAL, RESPONDING TO ARMY CORPS LETTER ON FULL REVIEW OF COAL EXPORT

“We need a thorough, comprehensive and transparent review looking at the cumulative impacts of all of the coal export terminals. We cannot look at each proposal with blinders on,”  said Beth Doglio, Campaign Director for Power Past Coal.  “The Army Corps is ignoring the serious impacts these proposals would have on communities from Montana to Eastern Washington and along our coasts. With proposals on the table to export as much as 150 million tons of dirty coal through our neighborhoods in the Northwest, residents near the mines, the rail-lines, proposed terminals, and the shipping lanes want to know the full impacts these proposals would have on their lives, health, economies and communities. That’s why businesses, tribes, health professionals, faith leaders, elected officials, conservationists and some of our top editorial boards in the region are all standing up and calling for a full review of the cumulative impacts from coal export.  Coal companies are putting down their chips on as many proposals as possible – we cannot allow them to gamble with our future.”

QUOTES FROM ELECTED OFFICIALS, COMMUNITIES AND EDITORIAL BOARDS

“This project is one of at least six proposals to export coal from Oregon and Washington, and one of at least three which will require permits from the Corps. All of these projects – and others like them – would have several similar impacts. Consider, for example, the cumulative impacts to human health and the environment from increases in greenhouse gas emission, rail traffic, mining activity on public lands, and the transport of ozone, particulate matter, and mercury from Asia to the United States. To address these and other cumulative impacts, we recommend that the Corps conduct a thorough and broadly-scoped cumulative impacts analysis of exporting large quantities of Wyoming and Montana-mined coal through the west coast of the United States to Asia. This cumulative impacts analysis could be used in the environmental analyses of other proposed coal export projects of similar scope.”
- U.S. EPA Region 10, http://www.powerpastcoal.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/USEPARegion10Letter.pdf

“Federal agencies should undertake the full reviews before green-lighting any proposals for Northwest coal ports, a list running from Coos Bay to Bellingham, Wash., on the coast and inland to Boardman on the Columbia River. Among them, reports The Oregonian's Scott Learn, the ports could bring more than 60 coal trains a day through the region, while boosting Columbia River coal-barge traffic by 70 percent.”
--Oregonian Editorial, http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2012/04/oregon_and_northwest_neighbors.html

“I write regarding permit applications for new export terminals in the Pacific Northwest and to urge you to undertake a thorough cumulative impact analysis of these projects….While each of the applications are separate and distinct, they all share common elements that, when considered cumulatively, stand to have significant environmental and public health impacts. These potential environmental and public health impacts are of considerable importance, particularly when considering the multitude of proposals. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is instructive in a situation such as this, calling on federal agencies to consider impacts from past, present and reasonably foreseeable future actions.” 
-- U.S. Senator Patty Murray, http://www.powerpastcoal.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Murray-Coal-Exports-6.13.12.pdf

“On behalf of the people of Oregon, I am writing to request that a federal agency prepare a programmatic and comprehensive environmental impact statement (EIS) under the National Environmental Policy Act to look at the unprecedented number of coal export proposals pending in the Pacific Northwest, as well as the potential effects in this country of the use of this coal in Asia.”
- John A. Kitzhaber, M.D., Governor of Oregon, http://www.powerpastcoal.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/4-25-12_KitzhaberCoalLetter-2.pdf

“We write to you to urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to conduct a cumulative environmental impact statement (EIS) with respect to the considerable number of permit applications for new export terminals in the Northwest.

Currently, four export terminal projects located in Washington and Oregon have permit applications pending before the Corps. It is our understanding that the primary purpose of these terminals is to ship coal that was mined in Wyoming and Montana and transported through Washington and Oregon.

Collectively, these projects are estimated to increase the United States coal capacity by 157 million tons per year. Today, the United States exports approximately 80 to 100 million tons of coal annually from all ports nationwide.  If approved, and operated at capacity, these new projects would more than double America’s coal exports – all of which would travel through Washington and Oregon via rail and public waterways.

This significant increase in coal being transported throughout the region will have a serious impact on the region and surrounding communities.”
-- U.S. Congressmen Jim McDermott and Adam Smith, http://www.powerpastcoal.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/McDermott-Coal-Train-Letter-5-9-2012.pdf

“The risks of the impacts of increased coal train traffic should be subjected to a thorough environmental review. The number of coal trains passing through Spokane is projected to increase more than ten-fold, from a handful of coal trains per day to between 50-70 per day in both directions if all proposed export terminals are built and operating at full capacity.”
--WA State Rep. Andy Billig (Spokane), http://www.powerpastcoal.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Billig-hearing-request.pdf

The City of Mosier also joins the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s recommendation that the Corps integrate environmental review and consultation requirements into a single environmental review process that can inform the Corps’ site-specific evaluation of coal export projects. A Programmatic EIS is necessary to thoroughly evaluate the wide-ranging cumulative impacts of multiple proposed coal export terminals on the City of Mosier and other communities that will be inundated with rail and barge traffic if these proposals move forward. The City of Mosier and other Columbia Gorge communities that could be seriously impacted by the proposed coal export terminals have not been invited to participate in any form of information gathering or decision making related to Ambre’s proposal. In turn, we rely on the Corps and its technical and scientific review of the project’s impacts to understand how this proposal will impact our constituents and economy.
--City of Mosier http://www.powerpastcoal.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012.4.24.City-of-Mosier-Comment-NWP201256.pdf

All letters from elected officials and communities can be found here.

Communities throughout the region have been raising concerns about the impacts of these proposals.  There are close to 300 health professionals, 88 faith leaders, and 400 local businesses that have either voiced concern or come out against coal export off the West Coast.   To date, the coalition has organized 26 “Coal Hard Truth” forums reaching nearly 3,000 residents in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, generated over 17,000 comments into the Army Corps for a programmatic EIS and 40,000 + petition signatures delivered to Commissioner Goldmark in February 2012. 

###

Power Past Coal is an ever-growing alliance of health, environmental, clean-energy, faith and community groups working to stop coal export off the West Coast. www.powerpastcoal.org