Citizens opposed to coal in Bellingham
Mayor Dan Pike has announced that he will fight SSA Marine’s plans to build the Gateway Pacific Terminal to export coal and other bulk cargoes from Cherry Point.
Pike’s Friday, June 3, announcement came two days after most of the members of an overflow crowd at a mayoral “listening session” expressed opposition to the project.
In an interview, Pike acknowledged that the SSA Marine project sounded good to him when he first heard about it some months ago.
But he said his attitude changed when he learned of the amount of cargo that such a facility could handle, and that much or all of that cargo likely would be coal.
Pike said he still could support some kind of cargo terminal development at Cherry Point, but not for coal.