Cherry Point Will Become the Largest Coal Exporting Facility in North America

Cherry Point Will Become the Largest Coal Exporting Facility in
North America

via Chuckanut Conservancy by
Paul Anderson on 3/27/11


"Our export agreement with the Gateway Pacific Terminal gives us rights to
ship 24 million metric tons of coal annually. These volumes are a part of
total terminal capacity that will be permitted to move up to 54 million
metric tons of all bulk commodities at capacity, including up to 48 million
metric tons of coal, depending on market demand and other factors. "

Peabody Coal Company Spokesperson Beth Sutton in her response to one in a
series of articles by Eric De Place in The Weekly Score from Sightline
Daily. Read it here! http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2011/03/08/coal-companies-ma
ybe-not-always-entirely-truthful?utm_source=Sightline&utm_medium=email&a mp;utm_campaign=WeeklyScore

Here is a link to an article in Commodities http://www.commodities-now.com/news/power-and-energy/2943-us-steam-coal-exports-to-support-freight-rates.html Now on the explosive demand for more
coal in China if the economies of scale can be improved by building a
facility on the west coast. In other words by building this facility at
Cherry Point it will create and open up a huge market for coal from Wyoming
and Montana. The economics aren't there if the coal is shipped out of
Houston/Galveston.

So when the spokesperson for Peabody Coal company says "depending on market
demand and other factors", she is being a bit misleading implying that this
is all market driven and somehow important in the reasoning behind the
approval for building/permitting this facility. China will simply buy the
coal from Indonesia or Australia if this facility isn't built. Their version
of free market forces don't calculate in the cost to the degradation of air
quality, water quality, home devaluations, health costs, noise, etc., etc.,
etc.

According to Eric DePlace, the quality of this coal in btu's produced, is
inferior, thus cheaper per metric ton - if you add the cost of shipping
through the Panama Canal it will simply make it too expensive and the market
will not be there for Wyoming and Montana coal.

So! The economy of scale requires a huge facility on the west coast.The
marketing campaign focuses on 24 million tons passing through our town, but
by opening this facility to ship coal to China an almost insatiable demand
for western coal will be created requiring at the minimum twice the amount
passing through the Chuckanuts and Bellingham and more than twice the number
of ships coming into the facility than is being advertised in the Bellingham
Herald.

Plus we will have to give them tax subsidies and pay for the vast majority
of upgrade requirements required by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe.

And let's be realistic about shipping wheat from this facility - it won't
happen it's a deflection by the marketing people. The vast majority of
wheat from eastern Washington is barged down the Snake and Columbia River to
loading facilities near Portland and further downstream.

The odds that anything but a token amount will ever be shipped out of a
facility in Whatcom County are next to nil.

Largest coal shipping facility in North America - are we really that proud
of the direction this spectacular county is heading?