July 23, 2013 – First it was coal trains. Now it's coal barges.
A string of proposals to export coal from the Powder River Basin to China – on rail lines throughout the Northwest – fell through this summer, either due to investors pulling out or due to pressure from environmental groups who'd like to see more investigation of the health and environmental impacts of coal dust before moving forward.
Now Ambre Energy's proposed shipping coal down the Columbia River on covered barges – something that's never been tried before – and activists are calling on Gov. John Kitzhaber's office to put together both an environmental impact statement and a health impact assessment for the whole region. (The Multnomah County Health Department performed a health impact assessment on the likely effect of coal dust in the Portland metropolitan area, and recommended against granting permits for coal trains, but also said more study is needed to show the full effects of coal dust on human health.)
“We are opposed for lots of reasons,” said Dr. Andy Harris of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility. First, whether coal barges can be covered remains to be seen, he said, pointing out that coal trains can't be covered due to concerns about spontaneous combustion – and barging coal, covered or uncovered, hasn't been tried before.
Barges, like trains, also run on large diesel engines, and diesel emissions have broadly-documented effects on the cardiovascular system, Harris said.
Safety is also a concern: increased congestion in the Columbia Gorge can pose a hazard for recreational travelers near Hood River, and activists are concerned about who will respond and who will foot the bill in the event of a major environmental disaster. For instance, Portland Fire and Rescue was called on to help fight a fire in the Columbia Gorge last summer, Harris said, because local fire departments didn't have the capacity to deal with it. An accident, spill or fire from spontaneous combustion could lead to a similar scenario.
“We're also concerned about who are the first responders, who are going to need to respond if there is an accident? There's been no procedures that have been defined as to who is going to take care of this,” Harris said. “There's real concerned that taxpayers are going to be left stuck with the bill.”
But activists are calling on the state to perform further investigation for reasons that aren't just about the health of locals.
“The whole concept of, do we really want to be exporting the fossil fuel for Asia, to be the coal chute for Asia, is a much bigger issue,” Harris said.
Activists are concerned both about health effects on people in China, and because of blowback from trade winds that will affect the local environment – as well as contributing to global climate change.
The economic argument for exporting coal through the region also doesn't pencil out, said Howard Shapiro, a volunteer with the Sierra Club's anti-coal campaign. The barge project would create good jobs building barges, but they would be temporary jobs – and staffing on barges would probably be fairly low.
“Not only are you exporting coal, but you're exporting jobs,” Shapiro said.
Both Oregon PSR and the Sierra Club are urging the public to put pressure on the governor's office to make a definite statement against coal exports in general, and the proposed barges in specific.
“We don't think the comparatively few sustainable jobs that this project will give us will outweigh the negatives,” Shapiro said.
TO LEARN MORE:
To take action, contact Gov. John Kitzhaber’s office by phone, (503) 378-4582, or via this contact form.
Oregon PSR can be reached here; the Sierra Club here.
Image for this story by Lance and Erin Willett (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) via Flickr.
Christen McCurdy can be reached at [email protected].
