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 151
1 freshwater impacts.
2 There's been a lot of focus on marine impacts.
3 But if you look at the mitigation plan that's been
4 submitted, SSA's only proposing to address aquatic impacts.
5 That leaves a lot of terrestrial impacts that are not being
6 addressed.
7 There's a number of priority species,
8 particularly birds, and a number of priority habitats that
9 won't be addressed. Additionally, they're requesting that
10 they do an off-site mediation, yet they're not citing to and
11 complying with the Whatcom County code with regards to
12 off-site mitigation, which requires that off-site mitigation
13 be improved. It has to enhance biological function and
14 provide greater likeness to be assessed.
15 I don't see any of that being done here.
16 Additionally, they don't have on paper enough
17 mitigation points to even go forward with the project.
18 They're -- even with the new property they
19 purchased for off-site, they're still 30 credits short,
20 which means that they're proposing either an in-lieu-of-fee
21 program or the non-mitigation bank.
22 One program, in particular, doesn't exist. The
23 other of which, the people who have come out and run the
24 program, have posted this project.
25 They're also talking about economy, trades, which