Permit application submitted for Cherry Point Coal Terminal

Yesterday, SSA Marine submitted a permit application to build a coal export facility capable of exporting 48 million tons per year, according to Climate Solutions, a nonprofit organization based in Olympia, Wash. Community and environmental leaders are calling on decision makers and agencies leading the Environmental Impact Statement process to study the full range of community, environmental and economic impacts of the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point.

March 20, 2012 4:32 pm
A loaded BNSF coal train headed north near Blanchard
A loaded BNSF coal train headed north near Blanchard

Yesterday, SSA Marine submitted a permit application to build a coal export facility capable of exporting 48 million tons per year, according to Climate Solutions, a nonprofit organization based in Olympia, Wash. Community and environmental leaders are calling on decision makers and agencies leading the Environmental Impact Statement process to study the full range of community, environmental and economic impacts of the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point.

Opponents of the terminal say the increase in rail traffic would impact health and safety and pose economic risks to communities across the region, and that coal export could fuel climate change and add to global mercury pollution.

Proponents of the terminal say it will provide jobs in a county where there is not a lot of room for industrial growth.