BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:NingEventWidget-v1 VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Boise X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Boise BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0700 TZOFFSETTO:-0600 TZNAME:MDT DTSTART:19700308T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:MST DTSTART:19701101T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:2723460:Event:51989 DTSTAMP:20260509T053446Z SUMMARY:Bellingham Mayor Invites Shipping Terminal Comments DESCRIPTION:Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike invites members of the Bellingha m community to help local officials identify the scope of environmenta l review for SSA Marine’s proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherr y Point.  Pike said his aim is to continue community dialogue and pre pare for formal environmental review, which will be conducted by Whatc om County officials once SSA applies for permits.\nA meeting hosted by Pike is planned for 6 p.m. June 1 in the large courtroom at Bellingha m Municipal Court (2014 C St.), to provide area residents a prelimina ry chance to identify impacts that should be studied during future rev iew of the proposed project. He said comments collected will be prov ided to the appropriate regulatory agencies to support a triple-bottom -line approach to reviewing the proposal, considering its environmenta l, social and economic impacts.\n“This is an important decision faci ng our community, as we try to balance the potential for new jobs and investment in our community with the neighborhood, environmental and o ther impacts this facility would bring,” Pike said. “I want an acc urate assessment of both the positive and negative effects on our comm unity.  We deserve clear answers about the impacts, how negative impa cts might be mitigated, and who would pay for that mitigation,” he s aid.\nDuring the permitting process, SSA will be required to prepare a n Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Pike said SSA and its proponen ts are advocating for a narrow EIS that examines only impacts in the i mmediate vicinity of the proposed pier, rather than along the rail cor ridor leading to it.\n“This is unacceptable,” Pike said. “The EI S must consider the significant impacts this project will have on Bell ingham, especially the potential impacts -- noise, coal dust, traffic delays, bank destabilization, crossing safety and much more -- of incr eased rail traffic through our neighborhoods.”\nPermit processing to be handled by county, state, federal agenciesEarly environmental disc ussions are now being coordinated through the Governor’s Office of R egulatory Assistance. Once SSA makes application for permits, official environmental review and scoping will begin and formal public input w ill be solicited.  At that time, Whatcom County will manage the uplan ds and shorelines portion of the environmental review (SEPA), while th e U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will review nearshore marine impacts an d national environmental policy (NEPA).\nWhile Pike is doing what he c an to encourage wide community dialog, he offers the reminder that cit y government does not have the authority to stop the project from movi ng forward, adding that “most of the regulatory clout for such a pro ject will fall to the county, state and federal governments.”\nPike said the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point is a compli cated economic development opportunity that is relevant - today and pe rhaps for decades to come - to the citizens of multiple governmental j urisdictions in Washington, private employers, organized labor and adv ocacy groups.\n“It deserves a robust community dialogue, conducted i n good faith, to ascertain what is in the best collective interests of our area.“\nHe acknowledges there are firmly held positions by thou ghtful people on all sides of this proposal.\n“My administration rem ains in an information-gathering mode so we can be fully informed, sup port community dialog and be positioned to appropriately protect the c ommunity's interests,” he said.\n###\nMedia contacts:Bellingham Mayo r Dan Pike, 360-778-8100\n \nView this document online\n\nFor more in formation visit https://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/events/bellingham-m ayor-invites DTSTART;TZID=America/Boise:20110601T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Boise:20110601T200000 CATEGORIES:city, meeting LOCATION:Bellingham Municipal Court WEBSITE:http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?ss=municipal+court&where 1=Bellingham%2c+Washington&s_cid=ansPhBkYp01&mkt=en-us&ac=false&FORM=L ARE URL:http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?ss=municipal+court&where1=Be llingham%2c+Washington&s_cid=ansPhBkYp01&mkt=en-us&ac=false&FORM=LARE CONTACT:(360) 778-8150 ORGANIZER:Mayor Dan Pike ATTACH;FMTTYPE="image/jpeg":http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/ file/get/2270113938?profile=original ATTENDEE;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED;RSVP=TRUE;CN="Eric Jen sen":https://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/profile/Eric ATTENDEE;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED;RSVP=TRUE;CN=Roseanne: https://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/profile/RoseanneLaan ATTENDEE;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED;RSVP=TRUE;CN="David Ma cLeod":https://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/profile/DavidMacLeod ATTENDEE;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;PARTSTAT=TENTATIVE;RSVP=TRUE;CN="Nick Wa slenko":https://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/profile/NickWaslenko ATTENDEE;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;PARTSTAT=TENTATIVE;RSVP=TRUE;CN="Terese VanAssche":https://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/profile/TereseVanAssche ATTENDEE;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;PARTSTAT=TENTATIVE;RSVP=TRUE;CN="Heather K":https://transitionwhatcom.ning.com/profile/HeatherK END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR