Coal train concerns port, grain shipper

Proposed large shipments of coal on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad from the midwest to coastal Washington ports in Longview and Cherry Point could impact grain shipments from Whitman County. Port of Whitman County officials discussed the issue during their regular meeting yesterday.

Large facilities to load coal from Wyoming at Washington state ports for shipment to China could result in a marked increase in trains on mainlines through the state. Port officials worried the trains could impact shipments from the McCoy Train Loading facility under construction south of Rosalia.

Joe Poire, port executive director, reported on a public hearing conducted by the federal Environmental Protection Agency on the coal trains in Spokane earlier this week.

Main point of contention in the anti-coal train crowd, he said, was that dust from the coal cars could blow out and pollute rivers along the railroad. Poire told port commissioners he understood coal train advocates hired day laborers to stand in line at the hearing and claim speaking spots to block anti-coal speakers from testifying.

Port Commissioner Tom Kammerzell of Colfax said increased traffic from the coal trains was a major conversation point at the Washington Public Ports Association’s meeting last week in Olympia.

Kammerzell reported BNSF said grain trains should not be affected by the coal traffic for the next five to 15 years. He added port officials from across the state were skeptical of that impact and were traveling to BNSF headquarters in Fort Worth, Tex., to discuss the matter with the firm.