Having coal trains coming through Vancouver would be too financially risky. Vancouver taxpayers would have to help fund additional bridges and pay for improvements on the railroad bridge over the Columbia River.
This doesn’t make sense when China is building huge numbers of windmills to generate electricity. Citizens in China recently staged a 10,000 person demonstration against coal-fired power plants.
The trains are 1.5 miles long and will delay traffic. This will hold up fire trucks, police and ambulances. Originally, we were told there would be 27 coal trains a day, but the numbers keep changing.
Downtown Vancouver and areas near the train tracks would be polluted. The dust can contain lead, mercury and arsenic, which cause black lung, cancer, heart disease and asthma. The dust from the coal could go into the Columbia River and endanger the salmon.
