About 650 people packed Gaiser Hall and Foster Auditorium tonight for a public hearing on a proposal to build an coal export terminal in Bellingham.
Opponents appear to outnumber supporters at the hearing. Activists on both sides had exchanged verbal jabs in advance of the hearing. Two advocacy groups, the pro-coal Alliance for Northwest Jobs and Exports and the anti-coal Sierra Club, were scheduled to hold their own media events before the hearing.
Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt took part in the anti coal protest.
Pro-coal activists showed up wearing green, while anti-coal activists were dressed in red. One protester showed up dressed up as a lump of coal.
Look for photos, video and complete coverage later tonight at www.columbian.com.
The three-hour meeting will focus on the Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point, one of five coal export facilities now proposed in Washington and Oregon. Among other commodities, the facility would handle coal that’s shipped through the Northwest, mostly by rail, on its way to Asian markets. One of the key rail routes to that location passes through Vancouver.
