The March 3 front-page article on Ferndale's hard water woes set off a cycle of thinking and some questions in my mind. Why was the switch from Nooksack water to well water made in the first place, I wondered? I Googled and read the city's explanations. Basically the switch is touted as a proactive move to contain water costs into the future. It all looks good on paper; taste tests were done, less treatment is needed, the city can better control costs using their own water resource.

Later in the day, though, a thought flashed through. Won't SSA Marine be needing millions of gallons of Nooksack water daily to dampen coal piles for dust containment? I found myself wondering if the switch to well water was at all motivated by the objective of freeing up Nooksack water for the coal port? I found myself wondering what the future quality of the Ferndale aquifer will be after years of water used to dampen coal piles seeps its contaminants into the Ferndale aquifer. I found myself wondering how the water cost savings sought by Ferndale with this switch would pan out if the aquifer was seriously polluted by the coal port over time.

Leslie Shankman

Bellingham