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

area were to be discharged. Even if that’s a regular practice amongst shipping, that amount of bilge
water would be very concerning. I’m trusting that the agencies are going to be looking at that and
create detail. I’m also a little concerned about the increased railroad traffic, meaning that it is going to
be very hard for me to literally to get to town because there will be so many trains going through. I hope
somebody looks at the increased traffic effect and how we are going to be getting to town with all the
railroad traffic. Thank you very much for listening to my comments.
I’m Bruce Beasley. 2225 Victor Street, Bellingham. I’m a professor at Western Washington University.
I’m concerned about the environmental impact of the proposed increased train traffic. I’m concerned
about the coal dust and its health effects. I would like the EIS to investigate the effects of coal dust on
the health of people in Bellingham. I’m concerned about the increased train traffic and the effect it
would have on Bellingham as a community, disruption that it might create in the development of the
waterfront and the quality of life of our community. Particularly the environmental degradation
involved in burning coal and increasing CO2 levels. I would like the EIS to investigate the effects of
increased train traffic, increased CO2 emissions, and coal dust on our community.
My name is Tom Martin. I live at 1200 Old Marine Drive out in Bellingham near the airport. First, let it
be known that I’ve been in construction and real estate development almost my whole life. And if you
told me we were going to build an export terminal out on Cherry Point and some more trains would go
by, that’s great. Some more trains, ok. But about 2 years ago at 1:30 in the morning my house starts
rattling and I’m trying to figure out what it is. Boy, that’s a train that has a huge load in it! It goes by
and takes however long. Pusher trains come and wake you back up again. That happened at 1:30, 3:30,
and 5:30 in the morning. I wasn’t able to sleep; nobody would be able to sleep. What is a house worth
that nobody can sleep in? Look at south hill, there’s at least 2,000 houses facing the railroad track just
above Boulevard Park. Their $600,000 - $700,000 houses; if you can’t sleep in a house, it’s got to be
worth 1/3 less. Take $200,000 off each one of those houses and multiply that by 2,000 – you have $40
million in evaporated wealth from the citizens of Bellingham. That alone accounts for $4 million lost
revenue to the city and that is just one small south hill neighborhood. You go by the high school, you go
out Eldridge, you go down Chuckanut, go down into Fairhaven – there’s going to be at least $100 million
in lost property value in this city alone. That is going to translate to $10-$15 million that is not going to
be in the city’s coffers. For what? There’s only going to maybe be 50 or 60 people per shift in this
completely automated plant. That translates to 150-200-250 total workers. The actual construction will
probably be done by Hewitt, or Bechtel or some South Korean firm. It is just amazing that people could
sit here and think we’re getting all these jobs out of this. It is going to ruin this town.
My name is Lora Lee Brackie. I live at Pleasant Bay in Bellingham, WA. I would like the EIS, in relation to
job creation versus job destruction, to look at the no-action alternative. Actually adhering to the Cherry
Point Aquatic Reserve goals of preserving, protecting, enhancing the natural environment which would