Bellingham Comments from Digital Recorder - EISs for the Proposed ...

GATEWAY PACIFIC TERMINAL EIS SCOPING HEARING VOL. II
COURT REPORTER: BETH DRUMMOND PROCEEDING DATE: October 27, 2012
Page 92
1 (inaudible) any time soon.
2 MS. STRAUSZ-CLARK: 55, 56, and 57. 55 you're at
3 the microphone. 56 and 57 you're the desk.
4 Please state your name for the record.
5 THE SPEAKER: My name is Elizabeth Schale, and
6 I'm a Bellingham resident and nursing student at Whatcom
7 Community College. Thank you very much for taking our
8 testimony today.
9 I'm not an expert on anything. I'm just here
10 with a few requests.
11 I've chosen Bellingham as the place that I would
12 like to raise my family. So, with this in mind, it's
13 important that I take a long view when looking at impacts to
14 my neighborhood and my backyard.
15 I request that the EIS be expanded to include the
16 cumulative safety and health impacts, not just for the
17 Gateway Pacific Terminal here in Bellingham, but along the
18 entire proposed coal corridor from Montana to China.
19 This can include, but not be limited to emergency
20 response times; diesel coal particulates' impact on our air
21 quality here, and vibration and noise impacts.
22 I also request the EIS to include the impacts of
23 the no-action alternative, so we, the citizens of the
24 Pacific Northwest, have a clearer understanding of the
25 cumulative consequences of either building or not building