I’m responding to the June 21 Associated Press story “Canadian company ready to start process for silicon smelter” in Newport. This smelter will burn large amounts of coal. That’s right, coal — dirty coal. It’s a fact this corporation, PacWest Silicon, glosses over at every turn. But it’s a fact, nonetheless.
So, to say local residents are concerned “about air pollution and impacts” is a gross understatement. The locals of this beautiful, rural northeastern corner of our state are, quite literally, up in arms.
They protest whenever Gov. Jay Inslee helicopters into Eastern Washington. They mortgage their homes to hire attorneys to fight this industrial nightmare. After months of trying, unsuccessfully, to get the attention of elected officials and Seattle-based environmental groups, several, including my own daughter, Karen Hardy, are now running for public office.
Paradoxically, Inslee himself says that coal is killing us. His administration recently blocked plans to build a new coal terminal in Longview in order to protect our air and water. Don’t all of the citizens of the Evergreen State deserve to breathe clean air and drink clean water?
