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

GATEWAY PACIFIC TERMINAL EIS SCOPING HEARING VOL. I
COURT REPORTER: GWEN BRASS PROCEEDING DATE: October 27, 2012
Page 47
more, I'd love to leave a beautiful world for our children and
their children and their children and their children and their
children. And so on.
MS. HULL: Thank you.
Next speaker, please.
THE SPEAKER: Hi. I'm Terry Wechsler, resident of
Bellingham and proud cofounder of Protect Whatcom.
And I want to talk a bit, for a minute, about Peabody
Energy, who's being sued right now -- mine workers, who are
trying to change venue in a suit to pull a bankruptcy
proceeding of a subsidiary down to a state where they actually
mine coal. Because Peabody transferred a marginal mining
operation and a lot of pension benefits, 10,000 workers' health
plans and pension benefits to Patriots and then filed a
bankruptcy in New York.
And the irony is at the same time that was occurring
in the New York courts, Jack Louws received a really nice
letter from Peabody saying, "Hi, we're proud to help bring jobs
to Whatcom County."
And I point this out because SSA Marine is not
building this terminal. Pacific International Terminals, their
subsidiary, is. And so you're going to be getting a letter
from -- Protect Whatcom asking for a comprehensive economic
impact assessment. This one will have 550 signatures on it
from all over the state, primarily from Whatcom County.