Resolution on Coal Train Traffic in Washington State

Resolution calling for a Public Hearing on the Environmental Impact of Coal Train Traffic in Washington State.

Whereas shipping Powder River basin coal to China will require extensive train traffic through Spokane and eastern Washington in both directions;

Whereas that traffic will increase significant health risks, especially to residents in the one-mile corridor along the route;

Whereas that traffic will cause delays and impediments to auto and truck traffic, including emergency vehicles, everywhere along its route;

Whereas it will require unknown amounts of public investment for track upgrades:

Whereas it will more than double the number of refuelings being conducted over the Rathdrum Aquifer, the Spokane area’s sole source of drinking water;

Therefore be it resolved that the Washington State Democrats call on the scoping agencies, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to consider the entire coal route as part of their scoping process, and to hold a public hearing on the matter in Spokane Washington.