Public Hearing - EISs for the Proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal ...

11/3/2012
1 Island, my wife and I since the 1970s, we finally
2 moved up here and have lived full time on Shaw Island
3 for the past six years.
4 My son, who spent his childhood summers on
5 Shaw visiting his grandparents, and since then
6 visiting us as regularly as we can get him up here,
7 does consider Shaw to be his home base and will be the
8 third generation of our family caretaking our land
9 there.
10 We are seriously committed to life in the
11 San Juan Islands. And what we value about it is the
12 scenic beauty, but also the authentic sense of
13 community that the Islanders have and have created.
14 The specific concern I want to voice to you
15 today is the potential for vessel-induced oil and
16 other load spills in the Rosario and Haro Straits,
17 caused by the increased traffic of large ships
18 servicing this proposed terminal.
19 My fellow Islanders who depend on fishing
20 and those who depend on tourism for their livings will
21 suffer devastating impacts it seems clear. All of us;
22 our children, our pets, my dog Kayed in particular,
23 and others who recreate in and near the water will be
24 negatively impacted by the resulting water pollution.
25 So please, measure the probability of vessel
Seattle Deposition Reporters, LLC www.seadep.com * (206) 622-6661 * (800) 657-1110 Page: 75