Those against the coal terminal are radicals, fear mongers, frantic fanatics, believers in Hollywood horror stories, selfish and liars. Those were labels presented at the Ferndale scoping meeting. Perhaps we should consider other adjectives, like: informed, knowledgeable and aware. Most comments by people who oppose the coal terminal represent individuals who have read the proposals and researched the details. Are these radicals who express concern over the health issues of fine particles of coal dust like other radicals who went up against the giant tobacco industries over the harmful effects of smoking, or radicals who produced evidence of the ill-effects of asbestos or lead paint? Those in favor of the coal trains say "we need jobs;" yet Whatcom County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state. This is about a small number of permanent jobs in a specific field, I believe at the expense of jobs in other areas when the full ramifications of the terminal are realized. Some at the meeting bemoaned the loss of jobs at Georgia Pacific -- not the best example of a good neighbor. The first phase of clean up at that site has just removed 8,000 tons of contaminated soil at a cost of $1 million.

Those who speak against the terminal are not against jobs, we are against coal. If the terminal was built to ship apples we probably would not be having this discussion.

Paul Schroeder

Blaine