Tongue River Railroad Colstrip Alternative

This new route, what they call the Colstrip Alternative, would travel up the Tongue River and then veer northwest over ranch land and block management land open to hunters and then on to Colstrip, Montana where it would meet up with a rail spur that joins with the northern Burlington Northern Santa Fe line.

And yet, even though there is a route change with new maps, new impacted landowners and new environmental and cultural impacts, the STB still has the scoping public comment period due on January 11, 2012.

How to Build a Coal Train: Tongue River Railroad style

For those of you not up to speed on railroad regulations, I don’t blame you. If you are having trouble sleeping, just open up the Surface Transportation Board website, go to their Environmental Rules page, and start reading. The regulations governing the construction and operation of a railroad are complicated and long. However, if you’re all caught up on your sleep, and just want a quick primer on how to get a permit to build a railroad, keep reading. I’ll define terms to help you out along the way.

Pretend that you are the head of TRRC. This is how it goes. It’s easier than it seems.

Step 1 – Submit a permit application to the STB: This step is easy. It is important to use decades old environmental data, lie about where you plan to sell your coal, act as if your industry isn’t dying, and make sweeping generalizations about the need for a railroad that aren’t backed up by any facts. It’s also good to have numerous different versions of your maps and routes to confuse the public. In addition, after the public hearings are over, make an announcement about a new route.

Step 2 – Obtain Eminent Domain Authority from STB: In order to construct and operate this rail line, you’ll need eminent domain authority.

This authority is necessary since you want to cross land currently owned and in use by ranchers and farmers and over extremely important tribal cultural and historic sites. This will hurt their businesses, but it’s OK since you know that it will really benefit everyone in the long-run. And by everyone, I mean you and only you.

You also plan on taking the train through an Amish community (a community that doesn’t use electricity), and have tracks running through one of their hand-raised and built barns. What are some barns in comparison to the billions of dollars you will be making selling this coal to China? Can’t they just build a new one?

However, in order to obtain eminent domain authority, you have to convince the STB that your project is in the “public convenience and necessity.” Oh…that’s gonna be a hard sell, right? I mean, how would the public benefit from our natural resources being shipped to Asia?

Step 3: Convince government bureaucrats that your project is in the public interest and necessity. You’ve seen the writing on the wall. Your industry is dying. You can’t compete with wind and natural gas. You keep trying to blame it on the government, the environmentalists, and the wind industry, but those arguments are less and less convincing over time. Climate change is wrecking havoc on the environment and causing extreme weather.

“But,” you think, “if I can convince politicians and bureaucrats that my railroad will benefit the public, I have a chance.” How do you explain to the STB that your project is in the best interest of the public? Let’s see what you say in your application.

“Given the explicit need for transportation of coal from the Otter Creek area and the fact that the TRRC rail line is the only viable means by which to transport such coal to market, it would clearly serve the public convenience and necessity to authorize the construction and operation of the TRRC rail line. This is not a rail line that is being proposed for construction based on speculation or with only a thin public interest need. The fact that BNSF and Arch have invested in the TRRC rail line and are prepared to expend substantial resources to build it underscores the need for the rail line. Indeed, the market is the best governor of the demand for a new reail line and here market foreces are coalescing behind a determination that the coal resource at Otter Creek should be developed and transported. Where industry players are prepared to dedicate resources to a significant mine and the railroad needed to to transport the mine’s product to market, the STB has no grounds for finding that construction and operation are inconsistent with the public convenience and necessity.” Page 21 TRR Application to the STB. 12/14/2012

I’ll get rid of some of the industry jargon and restate it for the layman.

Given that we have sunk millions of dollars into leasing the Otter Creek coal tracts and the fact that in order to make billions of dollars in profit we need a way to get it to Asia (because no one will buy it in the U.S.), and the Tongue River Railroad is the only way to get this coal to the Asian market, this rail line is clearly in the public convenience and necessity. And by the way, we have invested a ton of money into this so that shows that the coal mine should be developed because if it isn’t, we will lose our money. And, that would make us really sad. So, the conclusion is clear and irrefutable: that this coal train will benefit the public. Case closed.

Step 4: Sit back and wait for the STB to give you a permit.

At this point in the process, you have done everything you need to ensure that you will obtain a permit. You have submitted an application and then you let the government bureaucrats, who end up bearing the brunt of the public anger, become your agents.

Instead of the government looking out for the interests of the public, they end up being a broker in your business deal, making sure that you end up with the right to take away someone else’s livelihood and private property, destroy the aquifers and cultural sites, pollute the land, air and water, so that you can make money.

It’s a good racket that you’ve got going.

Too bad you’re going to lose.

Help us stop the Tongue River coal train

Submit Comments

You can send your comments to: Ken Blodgett, Surface Transportation Board, 395 E Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20423-0001, Environmental filing, Docket No. FD 30186. The STB also provides an online comment form.

Support National Wildlife Federation

Become a member or donate today.

Join us online in our efforts to spread the word about NWF’s Tribal Lands Partnerships

Here’s our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter @NWFTribalLands to keep up on the lastest news.

If you need help submitting comments or want more information about the Tongue River Railroad and its impacts on wildlife, please contact me at bonogofsky@nwf.org.

Photo: Christopher Michel

Rich is heavily involved in the fight to stop five fast-moving coal export terminals in the Northwest, the largest of which is proposed to be built near Bellingham–just across the bay from his hometown of Anacortes.

About the projects, Rich says: “I don’t want to see the Northwest turned into ‘coal country’. The carbon from coal needs to stay in the ground. All the coal trains, ships, etc. will change the character of the Northwest.”

Protect Washington’s orcas from toxic coal–send a message to the Army Corps today.

We caught up with Rich to learn more about what compelled him to write his letter, and the many other ways he creates positive change for wildlife:

Photo: National Wildlife Federation

After seeing what development had done to other places, he starting becoming more involved in local groups like Friends of the Forest to protect the woods that he had spent so much time exploring as a child. With his help, Friends of the Forest and their partners were able to place conservation easements that will permanently protect nearly 1,800 acres of forest lands in Anacortes.

But that was just the beginning. Rich became a member of Evergreen Islands, a local citizen group that has, among other things, prevented a nuclear power plant proposal on a nearby island; the Anacortes Conservation Voters, which helps elect environmentally-friendly decision makers; and Transition Fidalgo & Friends, a group that is working to foster local resilience in response to climate change.

When asked what motivates him, he doesn’t skip a beat, saying: “My two grandchildren: four year old Marisol and two year old Azuul. I want them to experience a healthy natural world…I want to make a small difference. It’s much better than feeling discouraged, hopeless, and powerless by global warming or urban sprawl.”

Rich’s dedication to preserving habitat is evident in his work as a gardener and volunteer at three city parks to enhance their wildlife values by planting native plants. He helped start the Fidalgo Backyard Wildlife Habitat, because “it was a low-key, non-threatening, non adversarial way to foster habitat restoration one yard and project at a time”. In less than three years, Fidalgo Island earned the National Wildlife Federation certification of a Community Wildlife Habitat, and Rich was named “Community Volunteer of the Year” by NWF in 2009 for his enthusiastic and tireless team leadership.

As Rich explains, “What is good for wildlife is good for all of us.  We are all in this together.”

Letters to the Editor, Anacortes American

Words from a whale By Richard Bergner

This is the first time I’ve written to the editor. I’m an orca, a member of J pod here in the waters of the San Juans. You shouldn’t be surprised that orcas can write. After all, you land folks have determined that corporations are people and money is speech. Let me tell you in a nutshell (or seashell) a very scary tale that is not a fairy tale.

Some very wealthy coal, railroad and financial corporations are proposing to dig up coal in vast areas of Wyoming; dump the clumps into open rail cars; haul it all the way to this part of the Northwest in 1.5-mile-long, 125-unit trains; dump all that black grit onto giant coal piles at Cherry Point; and then load it into mammoth, three-football-field-long cargo ships bound for China, India and Korea to feed their industries to outcompete us.

I’m amazed at what you people will do to maintain your fossil fuel habit. I hear some people asking, “Why should I be concerned about coal trains rumbling through Mount Vernon and Burlington and a pile of coal at Cherry point?” Let me tell you.

The coal trains will impact my orca family in the San Juans. We eat salmon, salmon eat herring, and herring need eel grass. Cherry Point herring struggle to survive when eel grass is not healthy. If the whole marine system isn’t healthy, what will I eat? What do you think adding more coal dust, diesel particles and piers are going to do to the eel grass and herring runs of Cherry Point — a marine preserve, by the way? And how will ballast water, noise pollution, sonar, bilge water and ship exhaust emissions impact all us marine creatures in the San Juans? Our fins will flop, a sign of sickness.

I read (yes, I can read, too) that “if a ship is traveling at a speed of only 15 knots, there is a 79 percent chance of a collision being lethal to a whale.” I don’t like those odds. Bulk cargo ships, such as coal vessels, discharge a huge amount of ballast water, which typically contains a variety of biological materials, including plants, animals, viruses and bacteria. Noise pollution can cause me and my buddies to be disorientated, hinder communication and make it harder to find our food.

On a ship, oil often leaks from engine and machinery spaces and mixes with water in the bilge. Oil in even small concentrations can sicken or kill fish. The Evergreen State will become the Eversheen State. I don’t want to eat sick fish.

Do you think that I’m going to stick around here when I can’t eat, hear my buddies or swim in peaceful and clean waters? So when me and my orca friends leave for cleaner, quieter and safer waters (I hope we find some), will the tourist pamphlets and phone-book covers show pictures of giant cargo ships instead of members of my family jumping out of the water? Will the tourists come (if they can get here) to see 1.5-mile-long trains rumbling through the valley, or piles of coal, or giant cargo ships?

Coal terminal. Yes, our planet may be terminal all right if all that coal is burned, releasing all the carbon into the air.

So don’t think, Fidalgo Islanders, that this coal train and coal terminal doesn’t impact you. It will impact me, and that will impact you. We are all in this together, aren’t we?

The 120-day scoping process for the EIS (environmental impact statement) for the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal and Custer Spur projects has started. Letters from whales aren’t accepted, so I’m counting on you to help.

Here’s how:

• Mail to: GPT/Custer Spur EIS c/o CH2M HILL, 1100 112th Ave. NE, Suite 400, Bellevue, WA 98004

• Email to: comments@eisgatewaypacificwa.gov

• Visit: www.eisgatewaypacificwa.gov

• Attend a scoping meeting Saturday, Nov. 3, in Friday Harbor, or Monday, Nov. 5 in Mount Vernon.

If you help me keep the Northwest from becoming the Eversheen State, I will tell my orca pals to join me in popping out of the water when you come to watch us.

1. If not the West, coal companies will go elsewhere

While the coal export market is definitely complex and difficult to understand, there is one part that is relatively straightforward: if the supply of coal export pathways in the West is too costly, coal companies will take their demand for these pathways elsewhere. Coal companies are already exploring their options in Mexico and the U.S. Gulf Coast:

“The West Coast is geographically better located than the Gulf coast for exports to Asia, but it has encountered stiff opposition by the environmental groups for port expansions. As a result, coal companies are forced to use the Gulf coast for export activities.” [Kinder Morgan Energy Partners] has been proactive in developing coal handling facilities and terminals in the Gulf coast. – Forbes  Magazine, Trefis Team

No matter where the coal companies try to take their exports, the harmful impacts will follow. This leads me to #2.

2. We know the legacy and reality of coal mining—it’s bad for people, wildlife and the environment

Tens of thousands flocked to the U.S. coal industry in the 19^th and 20^th century and thousands remain in the industry today. Nearly two hundred years of intense coal mining has left a legacy most are familiar with:

• Significant health risks including cancer and respiratory disease
• The growing idea that the health risks of coal mining outweigh the economic benefits
• Fish and wildlife habitat destroyed by mountain-top removal and strip mining
• Birds, fish, animals, and humans poisoned by long-term exposure to mercury contamination

Since we are now aware of the many risks of coal mining and burning, I’d like to fight it wherever it tries to go and leave a new coal legacy to my future children. This leads me to #3.

The Legacy of Coal Mining: strip mining operations at the Navajo mine (left and right) destroy habitat and impact our communities (middle). Credits: Terry Eiler (middle right), Lyntha Scott Eiler (remaining)

3. Stopping the export of U.S. coal is the latest fight in a wider effort to reduce fossil fuel consumption and increase the use of alternative and renewable energies.

Efforts to reduce fossil fuel consumption include driving less, conserving energy, and reducing consumption of goods and services. Efforts to reduce fossil fuel consumption also include campaigns to stop tar sands and the Keystone XL pipeline, natural gas fracking, and oil shale. A wealth of alternative and renewable energies that safeguard people and wildlife are available. Stopping the export of U.S. coal is simply the latest in a long list of ways we can work to reduce fossil fuel consumption and increase the use of alternative and renewable energies, which leads to #4.

Wind energy is just one of many alternative and renewable energies available to reduce fossil fuel consumption. Credit: Imagefusionstudio

4. It’s our responsibility as a nation to address the fossil fuel emissions that have gotten us into the climate change mess in the first place.

The U.S.’s significant historic and current emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, largely from fossil fuels, have gotten us into the climate change mess we are in. As a long-time global economic leader and industrial innovator, the United States is both well-equipped and ethically responsible for showing leadership and innovation to reduce fossil fuel consumption and tackle climate change. And this brings me to #5.

5. We should not risk our health and the wild places we cherish to support exports that will only return mercury and greenhouse gas emissions to our communities.

We don’t need the contaminated food, water, and air that more coal exports will bring. Instead, we should fight the coal export battle, as well as other dirty energy battles. At the same time, we should export the alternative and renewable energies that will help put the globe on a healthy track to a sustainable tomorrow.

For all these reasons, it’s time to stand up and fight!

Keep track of our efforts to stop coal export in its tracks: like us on our regional and Power Past Coal Coalition Facebook pages, and follow us on Twitter.

Click on the red balloon icons for more information about each crash. You can also zoom and pan around using your mouse or the buttons on the left hand side of the map.

Related Stories:

• Two More Coal Train Wrecks — The Epidemic Continues
• Sportsmen Target Coal Exports
• Coal Train Derailments Lead to Tragedy
• Loaded Coal Train Derails Near Columbia River Gorge
• Mr. Peabody’s Coal Train Has Hauled It Away…
• Coal Exports Through the Pacific Northwest—Get Ready for a Fight
• Big Coal Launches Sneak Attack on Oregon – Speak Up NOW to Protect Wildlife
• NWF Members Say “More Orcas! No Coal!”
• Coal Export Threatens a Pacific Northwest Legacy
• Coal Exports Compromise the Clean History of the Pacific Northwest

Officials initially said no one was injured when the train hauling coal derailed on Union Pacific tracks near Willow Road and Shermer Avenue around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday. But this morning, crews spotted the bumper of a car and dug around it with shovels, officials said. [...]

Crews are now working to see if there are more cars buried in the debris, Glenview Fire Chief Wayne Globerger said at press conference this afternoon. It is “definitely possible there’s more cars,” he said. [...]

“With 27 rail cars, full of coal, there was no way to get in to discover the car until this morning,” Globerger said. “Keep in mind, we’re talking tons (of debris), here.”

And now today we’ve gotten news of a 43-car accident two hours south of Dallas, in Temple, Texas. According to news reports on the latest crash:

While clouds that looked like smoke could be seen for miles, there was no fire. The cars were carrying coal, and the derailment sent coal dust into the area.

[Department of Public Safety] officials said there were no injuries, no hazardous materials spilled, and no roads are being blocked.

Coal spills out of a derailed train in Mesa, Washington. The crash sent 31 cars off the tracks and kicked off a bad week for the coal and railroad industries. (Photo courtesy of Tony Eveland)

Not only is the dispersal of coal dust into communities a result of these derailments, coal dust can help cause accidents as well. An LA Times article sums it up:

More train traffic would mean more environmental issues—including coal dust, which can contribute to derailments. ”Coal dust poses a serious threat to the stability of the track structure and … to the operational integrity of our lines in the Powder River Basin,” BNSF [a major rail company] says in a statement on its website. After a multiyear investigation, BNSF found that coal dust buildup can prevent water from draining out of the tracks, leading to flooding, warping and sometimes derailment.

And when you think about it, coal may be one of the most hazardous materials on earth. Its climate impacts alone are devastating: it accounted for over a third of US energy-related greenhouse gas emissions last year, contributing to sea level rise, extreme weather events, habitat loss and other crises.

The first two derailed trains were traveling from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin coalfields (I haven’t gotten confirmation about the Texas spill, but it was probably PRB coal as well), the biggest coal source in the US. For those of you who read this blog regularly, you know that the coal industry is pulling out the stops in an effort to dramatically expand exports to Asia, which would mean hundreds of millions of tons of coal shipped from the Powder River Basin, and a concurrent expansion of rail traffic. Needless to say, more coal trains means a higher likelihood of these derailments and spills, and more toxic elements in our communities and wildlife habitat. Imagine if the Chicago bridge collapse had been over the Fox River (a few miles west of the crash site), or if the Washington spill occurred on the tracks next to the Columbia River. Good luck cleaning that up with a bulldozer.

Help us stop Big Coal’s march through crucial ecosystems like the Columbia River and Puget Sound. Speak up now to protect wildlife in the Pacific Northwest!

PASCO, Washington — A railroad spokesman says about 30 cars of a 125-car coal train bound from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin to British Columbia have derailed along a route to the Columbia River Gorge in Mesa, Wash., blocking a main rail line.
…
[Gus Melonas of BNSF Railway Co.] says the majority of the derailed cars ended up on their sides and an undetermined amount of coal spilled. Melonas says no environmental threat was reported.

Wait. “No environmental threat was reported”? Let’s fix that. I want to report an environmental threat right now. Alert: Thirty rail cars filled with coal overturned and spilled their contents! Coal contains mercury, arsenic, and other toxic compounds that pose a serious threat to wildlife and human health. Mix in a couple gusts of wind and there’s your environmental threat right there.

Coal trains (like this one in Waterloo, Indiana in 2010) derail more often than you would think, and the consequences can be grim. (photo: Ray Steup)

When you consider that at least 19 coal trains have derailed since 2010 (expand the “Coal Dust” tab at this link for more info) it becomes pretty clear that this is a bad idea. And that’s before you consider all the other bad news that goes along with Big Coal’s projects: climate change, ocean acidification, impacts to endangered salmon and orcas…the list goes on.

The railroads and coal companies would love to sweep incidents like this under the rug, but it’s a lot harder than lifting up the corner of the landscape and getting out the broom. So next time you hear things like “no environmental threat,” you might want to ask who’s doing the reporting.

Help us stop Big Coal’s march through crucial ecosystems like the Columbia River and Puget Sound. Speak up now to protect Orcas and other wildlife in the Pacific Northwest!

Train tracks already run along the Columbia. Tracks like these would carry the coal laden trains along the river. Photo: Bryn Fluharty

Having lived in both Washington and Oregon I have many fond memories of the Columbia River. As a child I spent many a vacation paddling along its banks with my brother and scrambling along high cliffs which the river has carved out over a millennia. Recently, I have marveled at its beauty while crossing into Oregon and hiking and climbing through the scrub-land at its banks. I now fear that a new threat from the coal industry will compromise this area and spoil it for future generations.

A Growing Threat

This new threat comes from Arch Coal and Peabody Energy, who want to ship millions of tons of dirty coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and bring it to terminals in Washington and Oregon. Open bed trains full of coal and up to a mile-and-a-half long would wind their way along the Columbia each day on their way to ports along the Oregon and Washington Coast. These trains would leave trails of coal dust in their wake. This dust would settle over our lands and into our lungs causing health problems for local communities and the environment.

Port of Morrow

A serine evening on the Columbia in the Tri Cities, just upstream from the Port of Morrow. Photo: Bryn Fluharty

The coal dust and diesel pollution from the trains are the main concerns. Coal dust from the trains settles on the water, soil and vegetation, harming species like endangered salmon. The salmon runs that are dependent upon the Columbia River are already endangered by habitat loss and would be further stressed from this pollution. Coal dust can have significant impacts on human health as well: lung damage, aggravation of existing respiratory diseases such as asthma, pneumoconiosis, bronchitis and emphysema are all possible results of breathing coal dust.

The Port of Morrow is only the first of the at least six proposed projects, all of which would have similar impacts to our region. If implemented these projects would scar this area, compromising the water and the air of an area that is part of our regional heritage.

Moving Forward

We must take a stand against coal and tell our decision makers that they must stop these projects and promote a healthy environment and healthy communities. If you live in Oregon please contact Governor Kitzhaber and tell him that you do not want dirty coal brought through your communities or you can Take Action through the National Wildlife Federation. You can also learn more about these projects and their possible impacts by attending the rally in Portland – May 7th, 12pm in Pioneer Square, featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Is this scene missing a fleet of coal barges? Ambre Energy thinks so. (Photo: flickr.com/McD22)

Back room negotiations between Ambre Energy – one of the world’s largest coal companies – and officials at the Port of Morrow led to a surprise announcement that the port would host the first coal export facility on the west coast, capable of sending almost 9 million tons every year to China. Community groups have been closely tracking several proposals from Big Coal, but the Port of Morrow wasn’t high on the list of perceived threats until now.

In an effort to bypass a thorough review by government agencies, Ambre Energy is taking a roundabout route: they plan to move the coal by rail from Montana to the Port of Morrow (near Boardman, OR), dump the coal onto barges that will travel up the Columbia River, and then ship it overseas from the Port of St. Helens.

But the same problems that plague other proposals still await this one, including air and water pollution from coal dust and diesel, mile-long trains cutting through communities east of Boardman, and the re-casting of Oregon as a stooge for Big Coal’s dirty work.

If you needed more evidence that Big Coal doesn’t care about Oregon (outside of boosting their profits), just listen to Alan Fore, a spokesman for Ambre Energy:

What we’re proposing is not something we don’t already do. We’re not reinventing the wheel. It’s just a location.

Colstrip, MT: Another "Just a Location" brought to you by Big Coal (Photo: flickr.com/spotreporting)

We need your help. The Oregon Department of State Lands can approve or deny a permit Ambre Energy needs to move forward, and they are holding a public comment period until the end of the month. Their decision on the Port of Morrow could set precedent for the bigger battle to come, and we can’t afford to lose this one.

Tell the Oregon Department of State Lands to deny the permit for Ambre Energy’s coal export scheme.

Cherry Point, Washington, site of a proposed coal export terminal (photo: Paul Anderson)

Not a moment too soon. The coal industry has just officially applied to export coal from the mouth of the Columbia River–the terminal, at Longview, WA, would be the gateway for at least 44 million tons of coal each year, bound for India and China.

Considering that the entire United States currently exports only 74 million tons, the Longview project (if built) would be a major, major setback in the fight for clean air, clean water, and environmental protection. Other proposed terminals at Cherry Point, Grays Harbor, Port of St. Helens, Coos Bay, and the Port of Morrow could push coal exports to nearly 200 million tons annually.

Exports: Sacrificing American Landscapes for a Foreign Market

Coal mining in the Powder River Basin has destroyed vast stretches of habitat for animals like mule deer (photo: C.V. Vick)

Export projects are a sign of how desperate the coal industry is to keep their fat profits rolling in. Coal usage in the US has declined in recent years as electric utilities transition to natural gas, wind, and other sources of energy — and thanks to a sustained effort by conservationists to limit the construction of new coal-fired power plants.

And economists agree that coal isn’t part of the equation:

“Coal is a dead man walkin’,” says Kevin Parker, global head of asset management and a member of the executive committee at Deutsche Bank. “Banks won’t finance them. Insurance companies won’t insure them. The EPA is coming after them. . . . And the economics to make it clean don’t work.”

Coal trains -- like this one near the North Antelope Rochelle Mine in Wyoming -- can be over a mile and a half long, belching diesel emissions and toxic coal dust as they rumble through wildlife habitat and human communities (photo: Kimon Berlin)

Petitions are one thing; action is another. NWF and the rest of the Power Past Coal coalition are mobilizing citizens in the Pacific Northwest to take on this challenge head-on. The fight begins in earnest later this spring, so stay tuned for the latest news and ways to get involved.

To learn more about coal exports visit NWF.org