By John Stark
Based on Facebook posts I’m seeing, Gateway Pacific Terminal foes are hyperventilating over the fact that those who support the big coal pier are already lining up outside the Ferndale Events Center on Barrett Road to potentially claim all the available public speaking spots at the environmental scoping meeting that starts at 3 p.m. today, Nov. 29.
Update at 12:50: Here’s a photo posted to FB by terminal backers.
Looks like the union and business people backing the project leanred their lesson on Oct. 27, when environmentalists showed up to stand in the rain for more than two hours outside Squalicum High School for the scoping meeting there.
Maybe both sides can console themselves with the fact that both written and oral testimony on scoping issues is being accepted by regulatory agencies, and the agencies promise that comments into a microphone get no extra weight.
By email: comments@eisgatewaypacificwa.gov.
By mail: GPT/Custer Spur EIS, 1100 112th Ave. NE, Suite 400, Bellevue, WA 98004.
Comments are being accepted through Jan. 21, 2013.
OK, so if we get 20,000 signatures against and find out the people in line are paid or belong to a union that can’t seem to retrain their members, then both Oplinger and Cole should resign. Cole’s UW relationship with the folks at SSA
“Gateway Pacific Terminal foes are hyperventilating over the fact that those who support the big coal pier are already lining up outside the Ferndale Events Center on Barrett Road to potentially claim all the available public speaking spots at the environmental scoping meeting”
“Looks like the union and business people backing the project learned their lesson on Oct. 27, when environmentalists showed up to stand in the rain for more than two hours outside Squalicum High School for the scoping meeting there”
What a bunch of hypocrites
So all these pro-pollution folks will be doing is taking up space. The comments are supposed to be focused on specific feedback surrounding the scoping of the Environmental Impact Statement for the project. Cheerleading for the construction of the coal dump falls outside of the purpose of this session.
I find it very interesting that these union folks are able to be there during a weekday during business hours for this meeting. I also find it interesting that the three headed monster (government agencies) would schedule a meeting for public comments during a time when the vast majority of citizens are going to be at work. Coincedence? I guess they wanted the paid shills for SSA to have a pep rally. Good luck with that!
What goes around, comes around I guess.
If you can’t make it in person, center for New Media is broadcasting it live world wide web dot ustream.tv/channel/new-media-live
Thanks to them for providing this service and to the Herald for providing editorial coverage.
Rob: Thanks for the tip
…from the posts, it looks like the ‘oposition’ arent used to getting opposition..
A scoping meeting is not supposed to be a meeting for corporate supporters to bloviate and take waste time. A scoping meeting is meant to suggest areas of study for EIS.
I think that we should be allowed another scoping meeting with no early sign ups for speaking. It was a huge waste of time. Even the King 5 news guy said that it was a waste of time for everyone. Most of the people who had real comments to make just left. I only stayed for the first three or four comments and there were empty parking spots right at the event center when I left.
I forgot to mention that all the politicians who spoke were speaking in favor of the terminal said that SSA was going to meet the highest standards of responsibility, yet those same politicians were standing there bloviating and making sure that people with real concerns about the environmental safety of the terminal did not have the opportunity to speak.
I wonder how that Lynden mayor is going to feel about the terminal when they start pushing for the tracks across the north part of the county. You know it’s going to happen if and when this terminal is built. They can’t run all the trains that are planned for the terminal through Bellingham as it is, let alone the oil trains that are coming.
Chatter – Obviously, you were not in attendance at the October meeting, or you would know that no one was allowed to sign up to speak before the doors opened. I didn’t make any difference how early anyone got there. The union people and Republicans just didn’t show up in big numbers.
Besides, a scoping meeting is not for bloviating. It’s supposed to be for expressing concerns about what needs to be studied.
I think that SSA owes the county another real scoping meeting.
Thanks to John Stark, though, the green shirts are mostly singing to the choir in Ferndale.
I agree with Mr. Galt.
I have been watching this on UStream, and I am glad I did not waste the fuel to go out there.
Anecdotal stories about what ‘used to be’ will bear no fruit in the EIS scoping decisions.
Practice your proselytizing for the day this goes before Council, until then–Save some time, comment online.
Rah! Rah! Sis! Boom! Bah! Build the filthy coal dump for the children! Laughing!
What is really funny is that the Republicans still think that they are fighting a partisan battle by supporting the coal terminal. They didn’t learn anything in the election that they can’t win by trying to be Democrat light.
This coal terminal is a Democrat crony capitalist project from start to finish, supported by almost all the Democrat politicians in the state Who do the Republicans think that they are fighting? I saw a couple of Republican PCOs and Luanne Van Werven at the event center before I left.
I hate to say, but when hired activists dominate the discussion no one that lives in the area is heard, they who are screaming the loudest about any issue wins. This is not a Donkey or Elephant issue, this should be a local discussion, our voices should be heard first and foremost, unfortunately our voices are being heard only after being bashed and beaten.
If you enjoy the roads, schools, businesses you visit and the County you are living in, business needs to be a part of that big or small to add to what We all enjoy about our area. The business employ us and pay the majority of the costs of the these benefits. With all that is going on at the Federal level would it not be nice to be a bit more self supporting in our area?
If we want our area to continue to be special change is a reality for All of Us to be a part of.
Ok, release the beatings..
PS…. Anyone notice the coal trains heading into BC over the past year have doubled in size and frequency? The coal is already rolling on by Us!
I don’t think that the bloviators at the scoping meeting were paid supporters, they were just lined up by the paid supporters. A friend of mine got a call from California, asking her to attend the meeting in support of the coal terminal. SSA spent a lot of money lining up the speakers but it wasn’t to pay the speakers, it was for the organizing effort to get out the union members and other supporters.
This should not be a partisan issue but the Republicans are too stupid to know when they are being played. The idiot Republicans still think that the unions will support the Republicans if they support the union issues, even after the election.
By the way, Common, there is no tax revenue coming to Whatcom County from the coal terminal due to restrictions in the Growth Management Act.
So, the Ferndale meeting was a waste of time. SSA set it up that way. Now they owe us another real scoping meeting.
Hey, I just saw on tv that Diane Feinstein is once again looking for a location to house the Gitmo terrorists. I suggest Lynden. I think that Lynden would be a perfect place to house the terrorists. They are so willing to support other programs of the Obama administration that will negatively impact Whatcom County, why not a prison for the Gitmo terrorists?
John Galt, SSA probably was not the funding of the activists. Just a thought!
Maybe Unions would like to see more Union Jobs Here? Another thought
Also, Whatcom County will keep a great deal of the tax revenue, jobs (which in turn bring revenue), and all of the good that the BIG BAD BUSINESS do in our County.. BTW tax revenue you are very wrong on that front.
Again, this is not a Republican or Democrat issue this is and should be Our local issue outsiders should not have a louder voice than the people who choose to live here.
Also, you did not comment about the amount of trains and size of trains that are rolling on by all of Us now??
Given the scientific knowledge of 2012, the examples of hurricane Sandy, melting ice sheets, and ocean acidification, exporting 1000 train cars of coal per day to be burned seems like a poor decision on the part of the United States.
John Galt, We already have an issue housing all of the big bad guys arrested at the border to be deported, traffic infrations, etc…….
How about you move to Lynden or where ever our fearless leader decide to move the Gitmo players that will have all of the rights under Our Constitution when they touch the ground… ???
Someone will export the coal! It looks like it will be North of Us and ALL OF THAT COAL WILL KEEP ROLLING ON BY all of US!!!
This was My message to SSA
SSA, We need to have a real discussion with the people that live in Whatcom County. I went to the event and spoke to 5+ people that were not from this area, some as far as Indiana. If we the people of Whatcom County have a voice We need to have a voice not be drowned out by activists, union lobbyists, outside influences/players. Idea, whoever is running the meeting all local voices are prior to anyone not directly affected by this terminal?
There is NO TAX revenue coming to Whatcom County from the coal terminal, that is a myth, a Craig Cole myth.
Heck, there would be more jobs and more revenue to Whatcom County from building a prison for the Gitmo prisoners in Lynden.
Mr. John Galt, Well… Then Move to Lynden and enjoy the Gitmo players in the prison.
The amount of taxes produced by the supporting businesses and just good old folk a work’in hard. The tax revenue would be very real…
Again…. Look at the number and length of the trains loaded with coal are heading North to BC!
Myth or fact we are letting a opportunity pass us by no dust or dust, bad or good, drama of outside players, jobs or no jobs, business or no business, local fiscal support or none……. It will pass us by. Let the people Directly affected speak…… Again look at what is going North NOW!!!!!!!!
I get my news from FaceBook and it tells me that hyperventilation is the call.
Strong support is what we got here folks,
and who can argue with a handful of shills from elsewhere that care more about a temporary dollar than they do about the community at large.
Selling coal to power the economy of communist China?
Hey, what loyal American wouldn’t support that excellent plan?
The history of poor choices from Love Canal to Bhopal is littered with strong support from the shallow end of the pool that can be fooled into believing there’s something in it for them.
But strength has nothing to do with the easy road of the almighty dollar,
and instead demands the foresight to act for the benefit of the future.
And shame on the two mayors for selling-off the good of their neighborhoods for a temporary funding fix because they exhibit the worst kind of small thinking.
If it’s not a donkey or Elephant issue, why did Luanne Van Swerven-to-the-far right robo call me night before last and ask me to turn out. And why am I getting so much Pahydermal mail these days? I love that they are wasting their money on me, and I can always use a little fire starter; but why does Pachyderm junk mail sizzle, throw blue flame and stink?
Commonsense (yeah right! LOL), the opposition to coal trains and ports runs the length of the West Coast; but especially in Washington, up and down the corridor, opposition is coming together because it is not just a county issue, it is a regional and global issue. Believing it should only be locals involved is silly and lacks common sense from an organizing standpoint. It is a way to divide and conquer, but that ain’t gonna happen.
The only poll I have seen is the one in the Herald and as you can take it every time you move from article to article, it is neither scientific nor believable. I don’t just talk to the usual suspects and I have a sense that at best we are evenly split, even though every anti coal meeting has turned out twice as many supporters as pro.
Also to believe that labor is fully behind this is to delude oneself and not give much credit to rank and file. The Labor Council doesn’t represent the wide sentiments of their membership any more than Sam Crawford represents the Sierra Club.
Mark (Lowrey?), What goes around comes around? We’re supposed to be helping the agency co-leads narrow the scope of the EIS:
“The lead agency shall narrow the scope of every EIS to the probable SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE IMPACTS and REASONABLE ALTERNATIVES, including MITIGATION measures” (Wash. Admin. Code sec. 197-11-408(1) Scoping).
90% of what was said by labor in the first 70 slots had nothing to do with scoping. Did you notice the agency co-leads NOT taking notes while they were talking? Granted, the note-taking is a tactic to make us feel like they’re really listening to us, but they only do that when comments actually address a scoping issue. Labor’s statements didn’t. Their tactic was to ensure that real area residents who showed up wouldn’t hear all of the impacts of the terminal and all that’s not known about potential significant impacts.
And to GPT: call off your dogs. I am tired of being tailed by your employees and having my conversations with labor members interrupted. You’re the ones handing out the signs about “the facts” so what are you afraid of?
John Galt,
Are you kidding me? You really think a project of this size will bring no tax revenue to Whatcom County? That is hillarious. 1,000 good paying jobs means 1,000 people with money to spend here (it’s called sales tax revenue) A massive project of this size = massive property taxes (it’s called property tax revenue). We also have this thing called B&O tax here, a project this size will generate lots of that! Factually speaking, the GPT will be the third largest tax payer in all of Whatcom County. Get your facts straight buddy.
Hank, Luanne Van Werven’s husband is a truck driver, who often drives to Robert Banks. Craig Cole told her and the other union Republicans that the coal terminal would create a whole lot of truck jobs. He told them that it wouldn’t be right away because the roads were built to carry the truck loads, but after the terminal is built, they would be.
He also sold the terminal on the basis of fighting FUTUREWISE, who Cole said was leading the opposition.
Luanne Van Werven told me this personally, when she refused to listen to any of my concerns about the terminal. She flat out told me that she wasn’t going to talk to me.
Hank, I wouldn’t think that the Republicans are paying for any of the coal terminal advertising, themselves.
In the end, it is not going to come down to how many people are pro or con, but to how well either side makes their argument with both the state and the county council. The State is already politically aligned to pass this thing, with the political pressure coming straight from the White House. It may turn out that the best deal that we can make is to make sure that the terminal is build to the highest and best standards, the BAT, BAP standards, which SSA is resisting due to the cost.
Tug escorts and better dust suppression techniques for the open coal piles should be a must. Better and safer coal terminals are being built around the world, Whatcom County deserves the Best Available Technology and Best Available Protection. We’re worth it.
Oh, and this coal terminal is nothing but another Solyndra or Shepherd’s Flat Wind Farm, paid for with tax dollars, with little real benefit to the tax payers.
John – It’s official , the pro coal dump proponents admit to hiring day labor, paid employees, to place hold in line.
http://www.inlander.com/spokane/blog-7192-day-laborers-being-used-as-pro-coal-placeholders-for-todays-public-hearing.html
JG & Duh, for a good discussion of tax revenues, see http://crosscut.com/2012/12/03/coal-ports/111757/coal-supporters-make-their-push/?page=1