Cherry Point Coal Transfer Station

To Build or Not To Build

Keith Rakes

3/19/2013

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Introduction

In Western Washington, storms off of the Pacific Ocean affect the landscape every fall

and winter. These storms bring strong winds and steady amounts of rain. These storms, known as

midlatidude cyclones are the equivalent of category three hurricanes that periodically hit the East

Coast of the United States every year. They have a strong effect on the environment of the region

and produce a large amount of stormwater that flows into Puget Sound, and the straits of Juan De

Fuca and Georgia. This is more prevalent in Bellingham, WA and surrounding Whatcom

County, near the Washington/ British Columbia border. Here is where local people and Indian

tribes are concerned about the environmental impact of a proposed coal terminal at Cherry Point,

a favorite fishing spot for the county.

The problem was discovered after the Environmental Impact Statement was completed in

1997, before the plan was canceled and Pacific International Terminals redrew the plans,

creating a much larger site. In Western Washington, stormwater does not have its own policy; it

is grouped in with the State Environmental Policy Act and the National Environmental Policy

Act. These two laws, as well as guidance from the State Department of Ecology and the

Environmental Protection Agency give residential, commercial, and industrial permits on

building, and maintaining stormwater drainage sites. Local people of Whatcom County, as well

as the Lummi and Nooksack Indian Nations are greatly concerned with the environmental impact

of the terminal. They do not want to see the inland waterways polluted with contaminated

stormwater, or the local environment impacted greatly by the site and they are against being built

completely.

The local people and Indian nations in Whatcom County are worried that with coal

terminal being built will have a negative effect on stormwater drainage. The city of Bellingham

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and Whatcom County receive, on average, thirty-six inches of rain per year.1 During the winter

months when these storms develop and move ashore, they bring more torrential rain and heavier

winds. Besides the wind factor (which can reach upwards of 75 mph.), the total amount of

rainfall can be between 14 and 16 inches over a three day period (as the storm moves up the

coast and into Canada).2 The initial plan calls for many different types of storm water drainage

and management, but it’s only what the state and federal government requires by law. The

likelihood of a storm similar to Hurricane Katrina of 2005, or Superstorm Sandy of 2012 making

landfall at Cherry Point, the current system proposed would not be able to handle the excess

runoff, causing massive amounts of polluted storm water to flow into the strait of Georgia and, as

well as seep into local groundwater. A region that is affected by these weather systems would

ultimately fail. The effects of severe stormwater drainage is too critical for the proposed

Gateway Pacific Coal Terminal site to handle with only the minimum required by law, and only

an implementation of new technology and a expanded system to the proposed drainage and

treatment systems are needed for the plan to succeed. For this to happen, the state must

implement a new law focused only on storm water drainage, and treatment. If this does not

succeed, the coal terminal should not be built.

The Issue at Hand

Storm water has been a major concern in Western Washington since the 1970’s. When

the federal government implemented the Clean Water Act and Environmental Policy Act, they

included stormwater in it as well, but not as its own policy. Both laws require that industrial

facilities maintain stormwater drainage pools and treatment centers of contaminated stormwater.

1 http://www.bellingham.org/discover/climate/ 2 Service assessment. Pacific Northwest Storms of December 1- 3, 2007. US Department of Commerce, National

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. National Weather Service. September 2008.

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Washington State went a step further by creating its own Pollution Control Act as well as its own

Environmental Policy Act. Based on the type of climate and weather patterns in Western

Washington, industrial sites are forced to abide by the laws and obtain the crucial permits for

their site. There is also a Western Washington Stormwater Management Manual that is updated

annually. This is not a policy, but a guide to anyone in commercial, residential, or industrial

sectors that has to deal with stormwater management.

Currently, both the federal government and the state updates NEPA and SEPA and the

state does update its permits and the stormwater manual. But for the Clean Water Act, the section

on stormwater has not been updated since 1987. Additionally, those who follow both NEPA and

SEPA fail to look at new technology in stormwater management or look at improving what they

already have.

Historical Background

Prior to the settling of the region by American settlers, the ancestors of the Lummi Nation

fished off of Cherry Point. This remained even as American settlers moved to the region and

started plotting out small communities (i.e. Bellingham). In 1859 the Lummi Nation and the

federal government signed the Treaty of Point Elliott. This treaty guaranteed the Lummi Nation

exclusive fishing rights at present day Cherry Point and no direct development would take place.

As of today, no development has taken place at Cherry Point, although petroleum company

ARCO did build a refinery just north of Cherry Point in the 1980’s. Even though the Lummi

Nation was initially against the refinery proposal, they did finally agree to it. Today it’s owned

by BP, and it made other companies think about adding another heavy industry adjacent to it, and

directly on Cherry Point: a coal exporting terminal.

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The Gateway Pacific Terminal site was first proposed in the late 1980’s to help

supplement the amount of coal going into British Columbia, Canada. The site in Canada, owned

by Pacific International Terminal, a subsidiary of SSA Marine, is the only one in the Pacific

Northwest that transfer’s coal to China to help in their ever growing economy. The state of

Washington, seeing that British Columbia is doing economically well with their facility,

requested Marine Terminal Company to build a similar facility in their state. With help from the

US Army Corp of Engineers, Washington State Department of Ecology, and Whatcom County

(where Cherry Point is locates on the Strait of Georgia). In the early 1980’s, the petroleum

company Arco built an oil refinery just north of Cherry Point. The site is now owned by BP

(British Petroleum), and has been successful with the local people, local Indian tribes, and the

state. Now the state would like to see a coal terminal built just south of the refinery (between the

refinery and the city of Bellingham, WA). The terminal would allow coal from the nearby states

of Montana and Wyoming be shipped by rail to Washington state and then be exported, by ship,

to China.

The proposed plan was introduced in the late 1980’s but was quickly shot down due to

public outrage. It was brought up again in the early 1990’s, and an Environmental Impact

Statement was completed in 1997. Yet, the construction did not take place. Pacific International

Terminals redrew the plans, making the entire facility much bigger (opting for a three ship

terminal and pier, not a two ship terminal as originally planned). This, in turn, started a new

round of talks with local government, local tribes and the state. Currently, since the plans for the

terminal were changed, a new Environmental Impact Statement is underway and will be

completed by 2015.

Geography and Key Parties Involved

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Cherry Point is an undeveloped land in Whatcom County, WA (the county is in extreme

Western Washington and borders British Columbia to the north). The current parties involved in

the current E.I.S. are:

1. Local: Whatcom County.

2. State: Washington State Department of Ecology.

3. Federal: US Army Corp of Engineers.

4. Private sector: Pacific International Terminals (subsidiary of SSA Marine),

BNSF Railway (they plan on constructing the rail lines to the terminal and

update current rail lines in the area).

5. Indian nations: Lummi Indian Nation, Nooksack Indian Nation (both in

Whatcom County).

6. general public

The Lummi Nation are against the proposed plan due to having fishing rights at Cherry

Point since the signing of the Treaty of Point Elliott in 1855 (even though they are the only tribe

to have fishing rights at Cherry Point, it is a popular fishing spot for residential and commercial

fishermen as well). It is hard to say if the proposed plan for the coal terminal is built, but if it is, a

major cause for concern is the effect of stormwater in a major storm.

Washington State is a state with a split personality. The eastern side of the state (from the

Cascade Mountains to the Washington/ Idaho border) is dry, arid land while the western side is

very wet and green almost year round. To this, Western Washington has dry summers and long,

wet winters. It is during the fall, and winter seasons is when most of the storms come off of the

Pacific and hit Washington and then proceed to make their way across the country. Some of

these storms produced gusty winds over 50 mph. and bring large amounts of rain into an already

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saturated area. These storms, called midlatitude cyclones, are equivalent to category three

hurricanes on the East Coast. For the last ten years, weather experts have seen a rise in powerful

hurricanes (category 3 to 5), and the number of category 5 hurricanes have grown. Another issue

is that hurricanes are now keeping their strength much longer and becoming much larger (i.e.

Hurricane Sandy became extra-tropical, and merged with another line of storms in the US

mainland, effectively making it a Superstorm, before making landfall in New Jersey),

Superstorm Sandy was almost a thousand miles in diameter prior to landfall. The same could

also be stated for major storms making landfall in Western Washington.

Many Climatologists in Western Washington has seen a rise in these storms for the past

thirty years. According to the Washington State Office of Climatologists, in the early 2000’s

there were fifteen storms, in the 1990’s: seven storms, in the 1980’s: five storms.3 This is an

alarming trend and with current climatic conditions and global warming, these storms will

become far worse, reaching category four, and even five while becoming more prevalent to the

Pacific Northwest. These storms will bring catastrophic rainfall and to an area already saturated

by water, causing flooding, and mudslides.

The area of Cherry Point is extremely vulnerable due it being located near three different

waterways: Puget Sound, and the Straits of Juan De Fuca and Georgia. If the coal terminal is

built and they only have enough stormwater drainage, overflow pools, and treatment facility that

the state and federal government requires, a category five storm will have disastrous

consequences: millions of dollars in equipment damage, environmental damage caused from

stormwater runoff ranging from down or flooded vegetation, flooding of the entire site, polluted

stormwater seeping into groundwater and running into the Strait of Georgia and down into Puget

3 Wolf Read. Some Historic Weather Events in the Pacific Northwest. Personal website in conjunction with the

Office of Washington State Climatologist. http://www.climate.washington.edu/stormking/

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Sound; clean up will run into the millions of dollars. A region that does not have any experience

with these types of storms could be facing them in the near future.

Those who are concerned the Most

The issue here is that the Lummi and the Nooksack Indian nations, as well as the public

believe that if the coal facility is built, the facility will not be able to handle the excess

stormwater with what they have already planned. Both Indian nations believe that if the facility

does not build it properly and maintain it, that all the polluted stormwater and excess runoff will

either seep into the ground water, and/or runoff into the Strait of Georgia and the Puget Sound.

This will have a negative impact on the aquatic nature, as well as the environment on the land.

I’m not that worried about the general public, but I do want to show the Lummi and the

Nooksack that the proposal can be changed to lessen the negative effect on stormwater.

The Plan of Action

I will begin my search for the new technology online, at company websites and industrial

websites, seeing how they are managing stormwater in their jurisdiction or work site. I will also

look at different regions of the U.S., seeing how they deal with stormwater, and see if any can be

implemented at Cherry Point. I will focus my research on the U.S. East Coast, U.S. Southeast,

where hurricanes are prone to make landfall. I will conduct my research on local and state

governments. I will look at how they manage excess stormwater, and how they try to maintain

control of it during natural disasters. If needed, I will make phone calls to local and area officials

of these areas to find out any additional information relevant to the current proposal at Cherry

Point. Technology is also a main issue I will also look into with great detail.

Technology has improved in the industrial sector and the same can be said for stormwater

management. To do this, I will look at what companies are currently offering to industrial sites

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for stormwater management. I will also look at industrial sites (i.e. ports, and shipyards), and see

how they deal with stormwater management during normal operations and in the event of an

emergency. I will also make contact with respected port authorities and shipyards if needed for

any additional information. I will also use the following ports and industrial sites for additional

information regarding stormwater management in the Pacific Northwest:

1. Coal Terminal site in British Columbia, Canada

2. BP Oil Refinery at Cherry Point, WA

I will pay close attention to the BP Oil Refinery, built in the 1980’s just north of the

present site of the proposed Coal Terminal. I will view what they have done for stormwater

management in the present and the future and see what they did and how they got the backing of

the Indian Nations to build their refinery (originally built by ARCO). They issue a Health, Safety

and Environmental Statement every year and I will use that to see what types of improvements

and/or new technology they are using at their facility to control the flow of stormwater. I will see

what they have done to improve stormwater management at their facility and if so, make an

appointment with them to visit their site.

I shall also turn my focus on the current laws on the books concerning stormwater. Since

it does not have its own policy, I will look through the following:

1. Clean Water Act

2. SEPA

3. NEPA

I will also review the Western Washington Stormwater Manual, as it’s related to

Industrial stormwater management and see if there is any needed updating or improvement. I

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will base all of my analysis and any information I find from my research into coming up with a

solution for managing stormwater for the future Cherry Point facility.

As I conclude my research, I will be able to show the how the planners of the proposed

coal terminal can improve their current plan for stormwater management. I will show how they

can implement new technology that far exceeds the state and federal requirements. The new

technology will help in emergency situations and during normal operations. It will also include

how they can expand their stormwater system while keeping the overall plan in its current form.

It will be as costly to expand and will save money and the environment for many years to follow.