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Diving For Coal
9:14 am
Fri March 29, 2013

What’s In The Water Under The Ballard Rail Bridge?

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Credit Lamont Granquist
Laura James pulls a piece of black porous rock from the water beneath the railroad bridge in Ballard.
Credit Ashley Ahearn
Ron Eng is a geologist at the Burke Museum. He took a look at samples collected by a diver in the water near Seattle's Ballard Locks. He thinks it could be coal.
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The debate over exporting Wyoming and Montana coal through terminals on the Northwest coast has been heating up in recent months. Those who support exporting coal say the terminals will create thousands of jobs and tax revenue for the state. Opponents have raised concerns about the potential environmental and health impacts of coal. Now, some of them are taking matters into their own hands.

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Environment
12:01 pm
Tue March 12, 2013

Where Do You Stand On The Coal-Terminal Debate?

Credit EarthFix Photo/Michael Werner
Dust comes off a coal train in Campbell County, Wyo. The question is, what might coal dust from increased train traffic through the Northwest do to the environment?
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Environmental reporter Ashley Ahearn has been covering the different sides of the coal debate over the last year and today on The Conversation we want to hear what you think. Ross Reynolds sits down with Ashley Ahearn to parse out the arguments for and against the proposed coal terminals in Washington, and takes listener calls. 

Coal Export Terminals
9:17 am
Tue March 12, 2013

Coal Dust’s Environmental Impacts In Pacific Northwest

Credit Katie Campbell
A coal train travels along Puget Sound.
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There are five proposed coal export terminals under consideration in Washington and Oregon. They would be built to transfer coal off of trains from Wyoming and Montana mines and on to ships bound for Asia. Some coal dust will escape along the journey from mines to terminals. In the second part of our series, Ashley Ahearn looks at the environmental impacts of coal dust.

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Coal Dust Impacts
7:52 am
Mon March 11, 2013

What Coal-Train Dust Means For Human Health In Pacific Northwest

Credit Katie Campbell
The Westshore Terminal near Vancouver, B.C. handles about 30 million tons of coal per year, loading it onto ships for export. Westshore spent $7 million upgrading pumps, rain guns and misting devices around the site used to dampen and control coal dust.
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With five coal export terminals under consideration in Washington and Oregon, Northwest residents are grappling for the first time with issues that are old hat in coal states like West Virginia and Kentucky. One of those issues: coal dust. How much of it will escape along the journey from mines in Wyoming and Montana to proposed export terminals on the West Coast? And what might that dust mean for public health?

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