Welcome to Seward. Don’t Cough Up a Lung.
Ahhh…. It’s a beautiful day in Seward, Alaska – one of the greatest spots on the face of the Earth. I fell head over heels in love with Seward the first time I went. Misty fjords, cute harborside restaurants and shops, waterfalls, wildflowers, hanging glaciers, spruce forest, sea lions swimming along the shore, whales breaching out in Resurrection Bay and halibut just waiting to be caught. The spirit catches you and you just want to hop on a boat, fire it up and head out into the pristine (cough cough)…. head out into the (cough) the (cough cough cough)….What the heck IS that?
A: Coal dust.
After more than 60 days on notice, and years of complaints from local residents, the Alaska Railroad and Aurora Energy Services have failed to take meaningful steps toward fixing the coal dust and water pollution problems at their export facility in Seward. Left with no other options, Trustees for Alaska , a public interest law firm representing Alaska Community Action on Toxics and the local chapter of the Sierra Club, has filed suit over unpermitted discharges of coal into Resurrection Bay .
Without proper containment equipment at the facility, coal debris falls off the conveyor system used to load coal onto ships for export to Asia and Chile and into Resurrection Bay . Coal dust also blows off the facility’s two massive coal stockpiles into the Bay, covering charter boats, other vessels and nearby neighborhoods with hazardous dust and debris.
“The coal dust is a public health concern,” said Pam Miller, executive director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics. “The dust can harm the health of community residents and visitors. Inhalation of coal dust can permanently damage lung tissue, and children, people with chronic illnesses, and the elderly are particularly vulnerable.”
“It is unfortunate that local concerns over coal pollution from the Seward facility have gone ignored for so long,” said Austin Williams, attorney at Trustees for Alaska . “This lawsuit seeks to have the Railroad and Aurora Energy control the coal pollution emanating from their facility and comply with appropriate Clean Water Act requirements.”
Coal exports from Alaska were up in 2009, with the majority of coal heading to markets in Asia and Chile . “As Alaska coal is shipped overseas, measures need to be taken to keep our air and water free from dirty coal dust,” said Emily Fehrenbacher, representative for the Alaska Chapter of the Sierra Club.
“Putting Seward’s residents at risk from coal in our air and water is unacceptable,” Miller noted.
“Especially when simple, cost-effective measures could be put in place to prevent the problem.”
Thanks a-plenty to Pam Miller at ACAT, and to the Sierra Club. A jewel just isn’t the same when it’s covered with coal dust.
beauty and the beast
Guess they hadn’t heard of “Black Lung”
Am glad there are organizations out there that
tag these companies and keep watching.
Thank you
So looked up Seward on Google Earth. Very pretty pictures. Where is the loading area? Off of Railway Ave before it turns into Lowell Point Rd? That’s south of town.
The loading area is right near the harbor. Look for the RR tracks leading right toward the water.
At least as I recall…
off topic, but who else thinks that BSMP LLC is likely to be a recipient of a few bucks from the AK Trust Fund? After that book, Sarah does’t need that slush fund anymore.
You can see aerial views of Seward and the coal piles at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/skytruth/sets/72157623161171984/detail/
I live an work in Seward and there has been vast improvement in the coal dust issue. The railroad offered to meet with these groups to show them additional improvement plans, but these groups sued instead. No water studies have been done, nor has air test monitoring been done. Visually, during wind storms we have quantities of glacial silt like any other Alaskan city. I agree that the facility can be improved, but are lawsuits the only way? These groups are keeping Seward’s city attorneys and now the railroad attorneys “in the money”. Over exaggeration of a problem and broad sweeping statements to make headlines is rather Palinesque. Seward is a beautiful place to live and to work, but it is hard to live anywhere without employment.
Well… as per our Granny of the Dead Lake, If you don’t like Seward, get the hell out of here. Frivolus law suit against free entreprise spirit etc…
These corporate outfits act like spoiled brats without supervision. I just hope this situation is dealt with rapidely. Without strict regulations, Alaska will soon look like a huge toxic mudslide, like many other pristine areas turned to around the globe.
I’m really in a p**sed off mood and mode today
Grew up in N.E. Pennsylvania very close to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre coal mines. I witnessed lots of problems, polluting run off, sinkholes that ate houses,permanent burning mountain of coal,air you could- and did- chew etc.etc. The problem you face is serious and if there are people to contact or letters of protest to write let us know. How do I protest to the aurora energy services. Aurora my b f butt. Such symbolism these companies use-altho’ Sludge Energy doesn’t have quite the same image does it. Will be doing some googling now.
O/T but this is VERY biased and unfair:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/blogentries/index.html?bbPostId=Cz5RcNGNWwtWwCz2ZIECS0vCbsBEDv1cs80Fn6BA5aN0tffFmU&bbParentWidgetId=B8k88rWwXopuz5STgLeVwBLu
Bristol Palin Seeks Sole Custody, Levi Johnston Wants Media Circus
“It is clear Levi is not yet fit to be a father, not when he is completely blindsighted by the bright Hollywood lights.”
Thanks InJuneau, I found it. No pretty pictures of them loading the coal though.
So does anyone employed by the Alaskan government actually do the job they’re being paid to do, or are they all too busy lining their own and their friends pockets? And doesn’t anyone care?
Nothing like being “blindsighted” [to both Levi (per: GG2C @ #9) and to the Trustees for Alaska (per: article).]
I’m guessing when one is “blindsighted,” one isn’t blinded by the razzle-dazzle, obstructionist, holier-than-anyone, foot-stomping-indignant, moose-dropping-showboating coming from the ‘other side’ to continue their destructive ways?
Hang in there, Levi and Trustees for Alaska – stay blindsighted…we can always use more heroes. beth.
Is this not also a workplace safety issue? Use all weapons available to fight this.
OT- Article about Hoochie Granny bilking the teabaggers. Maybe someones finally waking up to the fact Granny’s in it for the $$$$$.
Sorry forgot the link- http://www.diggersrealm.com/mt/archives/003302.html
I seem to remember marrying my first wife out in aliak (not sure on the spelling) bay. Great wedding idea, the marriage not so much, save the incredible kid I got out of the deal.
winkwink~ good read~ pantsonfire is such a fraud and liar..
Pollution follows us everywhere. Even if it’s spewing a few miles away. It gets everywhere, and near homes, where home air ventilation systems suck in any pollutant. And, around my area, it’s woodburning smoke. I know it’s a natural way to heat homes, and for many, is their only choice, and is fine when homes are fairly distanced away from each other. But in close-quartered bedroom communities on small lots, woodburning for a hobby is the rage here with almost 9 out of 10 homes using wood-burning devices. And, everything smells, our hair, clothes, when we venture outside. Our government is trying to catch up environmentally, but attitudes here don’t want to consider the long-term effects, which might explain the high rise of asthma in children around here.
I just wish a clean affordable energy source could be used soon, and accessible to everyone. And as for coal dust blowing near residential areas, it’s just darn right aggravating and unecessary. Arrgh!
What a shame. Coal dust is so dangerous. Any fine particulate matter that is breathed in every day is so bad for people, animals, etc…A friend of mine is fighting lung cancer from breathing in the dust at ground zero (firefighter and search and rescue operations)…all these years later and they just found out. She’s a trooper, but it’s hard to know that she is suffering it.
Perhaps Erin Brockovich needs to pay a visit to Seward?
It has been shown over and over that most corporations will not do the right thing for the environment or public health unless they are forced to. Making the maximum money with the least cost is the goal. It is usually far cheaper for them to go to court where they might win while they drag it out for years and years.
I wonder if the public corporation employees are still getting annual bonuses on the revenue. No one said they weren’t. Don’t all state agencies employees get annual bonuses on the revenue? No? If not; why not…ARRC is a “STATE AGENCY” aren’t they; or not. I think not. And this suit “proves” it.
This lawsuit should prove quite expensive. Should be very interesting.
The Diane Rehm Show today was about mountaintop mining in Appalachia.
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/10/01/07.php#31354
Funny that coal pollution is finally getting some attention …
The AKRR would prefer to not run coal trains to Seward. The cost of keeping the rail clear of snow between Portage and Seward is astronomical and the risk of avalanches is severe, as evidenced by the avalanche last winter which derailed a shipment of lumber and sheetrock for SBS.
The fuel costs are also considerable as the RR has to use extra locomotives to climb the steep grades around Spencer and Grandview Glaciers. Bids are currently being accepted to build a new spur line to Pt. McKenzie and create a new coal facility there. But new rail costs around $1 million a mile, so it’s all a matter of money.
That being said, the RR has upgraded the site, installing sprinklers, covered the belts which carry coal, and does not dump when winds are extreme.
Coal dust is relatively easy to mitigate, usually just keeping it sufficiently damp will do the job. Then you have a certain amount of left over coal sludge which could probably be recycled into briquettes. Depending on the chemistry of the coal though briquettes might not be such a good idea – unless they were simply mixed in with the mine feed again.
Even if most of the coal is burnt in China, Alaska will get its fair share back eventually in the form of CO2 and particulates.
The simple fact is that this is just another instance of externalizing costs. In part it occurs because people in general are not aware of or paying attention to such arcane issues and in part it occurs because those doing the externalizing can take advantage of that inattention and increase their profits.
I have been hearing a lot about green jobs initiatives and energy independence and such for the last few months. Mostly people think of employment being a private sector matter. Let’s think of it in terms of sport. Almost everyone can identify with sports, I am not that familiar with most but can I think still make the analogy. Take tennis for example, you have two or four players. You have two line judges, a net judge, and a court judge, so the ratio of officialsto players is either 2:1 or 1:1. In baseball or football or cricket or rugby or curling you would have different ratios. Go to your state’s web site and see how many environmental protection employees there are compared to just the number of incorporated entities. Food inspectors and food processing companys? Take your pick, I think anything you look at you will see much higher ratios, on the order of hundreds if not thousands to one.
So my simple minded idea is to take a fair sized chunk of the hundreds of billions of dollars spent each year on wars and hardware for wars that can never be fought and instead create a vast pool of “referees”. People whose job it is to know the rules and enforce them. If we just decreased the true defense budget to only double what every other country in the world is spending on defense and used that money to hire referees at say $45k/yr.
It would create 20 million “green jobs” that cannot be sent off shore. But that would be “big government”.
I’ll not go on any further. I do want to combine a comment here though about the conservation meeting. AKM spins a nice tale in her account of it. Considering the way the proceedings were conducted it does seem pretty haphazard if not intrinsically corrupt. So what are the local progressives going to do about it? You have to get organized and motivate your much greater numbers to drown out the jeering zealots. It is a difficult task.
It is all the same game though.
Who are the owners and operators?
I live in coal country (Appalachia).
Coal company owners are a menace, all they care about is profits.
It’s interesting, because the picture looks so pristine. But if they don’t stop the pollution now, it won’t be that way forever. I don’t understand how people, even those who are there to make money, can see a place that is so beautiful and not care to preserve it.
All this reminds me of the ASARCO copper smelting plant that was on Commencement Bay in Tacoma. It was actually closed down a few years before we moved here, then the whole area was “cleaned up”. Problem is, nothing but the horsetails will grow there. The earth is dead. Just this past year there was a news story that they are now telling people who live within a certain range that they should always remove their shoes to go inside so they don’t track in any of the poisonous stuff from the ASARCO days. Um, the problem is, we’ve been living here since 1980. Seems a bit late to tell us that it’s still a problem, considering we’ve been wearing our shoes inside for the past 29 years. (We live about 5 or 6 miles, as the crow (or polluted air) flies.)
I do wonder about the comment from Emma – was the coal company willing to talk, or have there already been talks and they are now just stalling for more time?
Krubozumo Nyankoye*************thank you for a great post.
every day it seems that corporate entities have gained more and more ground and the citizens lose more and more. i feel very sad today.
my father went down in the coalmines of Alabama when he was a young man and died of black lung when he was a handsome, virile middle aged man. sometimes the thought of him leaving me when and how he did, is more than i can bear. how many other grieve for the same reason? i don’t know, but today i hold you in my thoughts and prayers.
Big Slick – try googling Aurora Energy services but you won’t find much. I glimpsed an allusion in one retrieval that referenced 90,000 tons of coal dust but I am a little skeptical of that. Not to say that 9,000 tons would not be bad.
William – All good points and I am glad to here that the RR has taken steps to mitigate the loss of coal dust in loading. I mistakenly assumed the RR delievered to an AES facility at the port where the loading took place.
I am going to go out on a limb here and answer rebekkah’s last question. We do have such a source of energy and that is nuclear. Take a look at France, more than half of their total electrical generation is nuclear and they have never had a serious accident. Do some research into the relative volumes of nuclear waste materials versus coal, oil and gas. The main effluent from the combustion of the latter three materials is – CO2. What does France do with its nuclear waste? It recycles a significant portion of it as nuclear fuel and that portion that cannot be recycled is easy to contain even in a densley populated country with no vast empty deserts. Nuclear power is not cheap enough? First of all, think of the externalization of costs, when the consequences of burning billions of tons of coal are all tallied up and charged off in terms of lowering the standard of living of the average citizen and enriching the very very rich, nuclear power could well be a huge bargain.
I know that the common place impression of nuclear power is that it is very dangerous and this exotic thing called radiation will turn us all into mutants. Well we all are already mutants. And we are all already living in a sea of radiation from different natural and un-natural sources. One of those sources is coal. Coal contains small amounts of radiogenic potassium, thorium and uranium. The point is that these elements exist in very small quatities, parts per billion. But if you burn 25 billion tons of coal per year at high enough temperatures it emits into the atmosphere so many tons of radioctive postassium, thorium and uranium. It is more complicated than this but the upshot is that far more “unnatural radiation” is released into the environment by the burning of coal than by nuclear generation of power.
So that is what you might call the short term solution. Longer term the obvious choice is space based solar power. But that is a very complex and expensive technology that with our present primitive capabilities would take most of a century to develop, if not more.
Bubbles,
Mining for those who actually do the work is a dangerous, dirty, exacting and vital business. They get little credit for their immense sacrifice.
Pat Washington State – Get a shoe scrubber and rinse them off before you go inside. Do a Raydon test on your house, I am just guessing but I think that might be the biggest risk. Next on my list would be mercury. Are you sure you are within the plume of downwind pollution? Find the basis for the things being claimed. We are all easily and naturally somewhat intimidated by the unknown. The resolution to that intimidation is to acquire knowledge.
Sorry for the typos, here for hear for example.