In this research memo, Sightline looks past the abundant rumors to examine the best science on Puget Sound herring. Are they jeopardized by disease, pollution, increasing numbers of predators, climate change, shoreline development, or fishing? And what about a new export terminal proposed at Cherry Point, home to one of the Sound’s most distinctive and threatened herring populations?

The coal industry claims that Asia offers lucrative coal markets. Yet much of the available evidence is cautionary at best. Sightline’s memo, “US Coal Exports and Uncertainty in Asian Markets,” explores reasons why Asia’s major coal markets have high uncertainty, and US exporters will face stiff competition from other nations.

Permeable technology has been used successfully in countless Northwest paving projects, though its use has been limited by a few persistent myths.

This Sightline paper examines some of the most common concerns about permeable pavement.

In January, 2012, Kinder Morgan—a giant energy conglomerate—announced plans to use an Oregon port on the Columbia River to export 30 million tons of coal annually to China and other Asian markets. Many people in the Northwest are concerned about the health risks, pollution, and economic risk that are entailed by the plans. A look at Kinder Morgan’s track record in communities where the company already exports coal reveals that these worries may be well-founded.

Many of Kinder Morgan’s coal export operations in the US blight neighborhoods and foul rivers. The company’s track record in the Northwest and beyond is one of pollution, law-breaking, and cover-ups. Moreover, the proposed Oregon terminal would be the company’s biggest yet.

• In Louisiana, Kinder Morgan’s coal export facilities are so dirty that satellite photos clearly show coal dust pollution spewing into the Mississippi River.
• In South Carolina, coal dust from Kinder Morgan’s terminal contaminates oysters, pilings, and boats. Locals have even caught the company on video washing coal directly into sensitive waterways.
• In Virginia, Kinder Morgan’s coal export terminal is an open sore on the neighborhood, coating nearby homes in dust so frequently that even the mayor is speaking out about the problem.
• In Portland, Kinder Morgan officials bribed a ship captain to illegally dump contaminated material at sea, and their operations have repeatedly polluted the Willamette River.
• Kinder Morgan has been fined by the US government for stealing coal from customers’ stockpiles, lying to air pollution regulators, illegally mixing hazardous waste into gasoline, and many other crimes.
• Kinder Morgan’s pipelines are plagued by leaks and explosions, including two large and dangerous spills in residential neighborhoods in British Columbia.

In public, Kinder Morgan likes to point out that the firm already operates coal export facilities in Virginia, South Carolina, and Louisiana. “It’s just a location,” a company’s spokesperson said in the Portland Business Journal about the planned site near Clatskanie.

“What we’re proposing is not something we don’t already do.”

And that’s exactly the problem.

In “The Facts about Kinder Morgan,” Sightline Institute explores the company’s misbehavior so that Northwest residents can decide for themselves whether Kinder Morgan’s coal export plans are worthy of implementation.

Download this executive summary.

More of Sightline’s research on Northwest coal exports.

Sightline’s Coal Export FAQ (PDF) answers some common questions about the effects of coal exports in our region, including:

• Why care about coal exports?
• What export proposals are on the table?
• Isn’t it good for our economy to export coal?
• Are coal terminals good neighbors?

Also see:

• Coal Export FAQ Abridged (PDF)
• Coal Export: A History of Failure for Western Ports
• Sightline’s blog series “Northwest Coal Exports”

Sightline’s primer on ocean acidification examines the problem of ocean acidification in the context of the Pacific Northwest. Only a few years ago, researchers thought acidification would be a problem that was decades-out. But once they started looking for it, they found it nearly everywhere in waters from British Columbia to Baja California. Included in the primer:

• What is ocean acidification and how does it work?
• What’s happening in Northwest waters?
• What species will be affected?
• What are the economic consequences of ocean acidification?
• What can we do to reverse this problem?

“Sightline Institute’s primer does an excellent job explaining the significance of ocean acidification to Pacific Northwesterners. Sightline’s Jennifer Langston comprehensively presents this critical information in a compelling report that will be invaluable in educating policy makers and citizens alike on the local consequences of our fossil fuel addiction.” — Bill Dewey, Taylor Shellfish

About the Author: Jennifer Langston applies her hard-hitting journalism skills to the most pressing issues in the Northwest. Before joining Sightline, Jennifer spent a decade as a reporter covering environment and sustainability issues across the Northwest. She wrote about land use, housing, urban design, transportation, food policy and climate change for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Jennifer also covered the energy and environment beat in Idaho and South Carolina. She has English and journalism degrees from Yale University and the University of Maryland.

See also:

• Sightline blog series: Northwest Ocean Acidification
• Ocean acidification in two pages (PDF)

Contents:

1. Coal is “the most risky bulk mineral market”
2. Coal has a history of failure on the West Coast
3. Coal export is a poor strategy for jobs
4. Case studies: Clean redevelopments provide more jobs

Also see:

• Coal Export FAQ
• Sightline’s blog series “Northwest Coal Exports”

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Included in the report:

• What we’re up against: Ten bathtubs full of water pour off one average-size house during a storm. Cities like Seattle and Portland have hundreds of miles of storm-drain pipes and thousands of storm drains and catch basins. Sometimes the stormwater system simply backs up, flooding streets and basements.
• Stormwater’s costly and toxic cocktail: In all, a typical year in Portland or Seattle, approximately 26,600 gallons of stormwater rush into gutters and streams from a single home—bringing a host of chemicals and pollutants with it. The toxic cocktail is a threat to our drinking water and marine wildlife alike.
• Smart, local solutions for polluted runoff: Cities throughout the Northwest are taking on the stormwater pollution problem by creating natural drainage systems–part of a movement called “low-impact development,” or LID. By replicating nature’s way of managing rainfall, cleaning up stormwater is both less expensive and more efficient than conventional sewer systems.

Sightline’s Curbing Stormwater Pollution is written by Sightline journalism fellow Lisa Stiffler.

Media Contact: Eric Hess, erich@sightline.org, 206-447-1880 ext.111

More Information:

• Tips for Talking About Polluted Stormwater (video)
• “Curbing Stormwater Pollution” in Trim Tab magazine.
• Industrial-Strength Stormwater Fix (PDF)
• Stormwater blog series
• Curbing Stormwater and Creating Communities (PDF)

This report catalogs the challenges polluted stormwater poses for the Puget Sound region. The average-sized house sheds ten bathtubs full of water during a good sized drenching–meaning 26,600 gallons of toxic runoff gush into gutters and streams from one home each year.

How has the region’s iconic rain been transformed into such a menace? A century of building pipes, gutters, and impervious surfaces is to blame. Fortunately, there’s a solution: Low-Impact Development. It’s an affordable fix that curbs the environmental damage while making our neighborhoods and communities more walkable, sustainable, and inviting.

Included in the report:

• How does stormwater get polluted, and why is it such a problem?
• What is Low Impact Development and how can it help?
• Examples of local LID projects that are planned or underway.

More Information:

• Tips for Talking About Polluted Stormwater (video)
• “Curbing Stormwater Pollution” in Trim Tab magazine.
• Industrial-Strength Stormwater Fix (PDF)
• Stormwater blog series
• Curbing Polluted Stormwater and Creating Communities (PDF) for the Northwest region

Storm drain photo courtesy of Morguefile.