PORT TOWNSEND — Coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest will be the topic of a lecture hosted by the Port Townsend Marine Science Center at
7 p.m. Thursday, April 18.
Ashley Ahearn, a science and environmental reporter for KUOW 94.9 FM of Seattle, will present “Coal Export Terminals in the Pacific Northwest: A Look at the Policy, Science and Economics of Selling American Coal to Asia” at Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2333 San Juan Ave.
General admission will be $7. Marine science center members will be admitted for $5, and the lecture is free for those 18 and younger.
Some coal companies are looking at the Pacific Northwest as the fastest route to get their product from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin to Asian markets.
Five ports in Washington and Oregon are considering coal-export terminals, and people in both states are considering potential impacts.
The largest of the five proposed coal-export sites, the Gateway Pacific Terminal, could be built north of Bellingham.
That could mean up to 18 more trains passing through Seattle and other communities along the coast and more than 400 coal tankers traveling in and out of Puget Sound each year to deliver that coal, Ahearn said.
Ahearn will present video and audio reporting from the EarthFix team of KUOW, which is operated by Puget Sound Public Radio.
More info can be found at http://earthfix.kuow.org/coal.
Ahearn earned her master’s degree in science journalism at the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California.
For more information about the marine science center, phone 360-385-5582, email info@ptmsc.org or visit www.ptmsc.org.