Unhappy with noise from trains

I believe Whatcom County and the city of Bellingham have to stand up against BNSF and tell BNSF that it is not the boss of us.

The Age of the Iron Horse and the thieving, rapacious railroad barons is, or should be, long past over. Thousands of residents along Bellingham Bay and in the nearby neighborhoods are suffering day after day and night after night 24/7 for 366 days a year with the horns and noise of the trains passing along the bay. It is a wonder we have not all gone “trainal.”

I believe the trains are a noise polluter for starters and their cargoes are materials polluters. Cars carrying oil, coal and whatever other chemicals are a danger to our air, water, general health and overall safety. If BNSF wants to be a good neighbor it can spend its own money to build its own tunnel under the bay to get these trains from wherever their Point A is to wherever their Point B is.

We citizens suffer nightly from the train horns that I believe deliberately deprive Bellingham’s citizens of any good night’s sleep. Bellingham is not sacred to them; it is not respected; it is not honored. Why is Bellingham bothering to waste millions of dollars on the old G-P site when the new waterfront project may get no respect from BNSF?

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 4:01 PM with the headline "Unhappy with noise from trains."