I have a question of all the pundits screaming foul about the coal terminal: Why have you not been paying attention? There is something much worse that coal being shuttled about our country, something much more devastating.

Coal can be cleaned up very easily, look at the derailment that happened by Pasco. Twelve hours, it's gone, no environmental damage.

Look at what's being shipped, by rail, which we all know can be tampered with without notice, from North Dakota. One a day comes through Burlington, 125 cars long, not including the power units. What is it?

Crude oil.

What happens if a train derails and 30 cars are breached? On land, it soaks the ground and renders the groundwater toxic forever.

And, if the derailment happens to be anywhere close to a river, that stream is dead. It will make the Exxon Valdez look like a cakewalk. If that happens on the Columbia every community that draws water from it will be contaminated from the spill site to the Pacific. If an accident happens close to Anacortes, which is one of the destinations of this crude, it will devastate the San Juans all the way north to Point Roberts and beyond.

The sad thing is, there is no other way to get the oil to market.

You just did not pay attention.

Wayne Neher

Bellingham