Coal in Bellingham? In my humble opinion bringing coal to Bellingham will make a few wealthy, at the expense of everyone. How could we even consider tampering with the beauty and pristine surroundings of our home town. We tried that with a paper mill, the pollution was an outrage!

Anyone who has ever lived in a a town where coal is stored or passes through on a train could tell you that within a few short months everything within two miles is subject to being covered with black soot dust.

I believe as air quality diminishes, those with breathing problems will experience increased incidents of asthma, COPD, as well as other breathing problems. And incidents of new respitory problems will start surfacing especially in the elderly and small children. Is it really worth it to allow a handful of people to become very wealthy while the rest of us suffer the inconveniences?

The dangling carrot (increased jobs in Bellingham) has been used long enough as a ploy to smoke mirrors with deliberate claims and promises of new jobs in our area, that most probably will never happen in any sizable numbers.

The real irony of bringing coal here, is for shipping overseas. Folks that expressed the dislike for corporate greed during the election should look at this issue as closely and conclude that our city needs envionmental protection, not a few dollars in the tax fund.

Tom Watkins

Maple Falls