BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- A group of 160 local physicians is warning that the coal-shipping terminal proposed at Cherry Point would likely bring additional “suffering and death” to Whatcom County.

The group – called “Whatcom Docs” – reviewed more than 400 studies from the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and other scholarly journals on the possible impacts of the coal-carrying trains that would be traveling through our area.


“And what we found when we looked at the literature was that there could be substantial impacts, that it could impair both the health and in fact threaten the lives of some people in our community - our patients,” said San Juan County Health Officer Dr. Frank James with the group.

The group identified four major areas that it claims would impact local health: increased exposure to diesel particles, coal dust, increased noise pollution, and more injuries or delayed emergency vehicle response times from the trains.

Dr. James says they’re calling on the state Dept. of Health to assess the extent to which coal trains would affect people in our community.