Millennium Permit Denied Pt 2
I'm Bob Larson. The state Department of Ecology's decision to deny water quality permits for the proposed Millennium Bulk Terminal's expansion into the nation's largest coal export terminal has Washington business, trade and labor leaders crying foul.Washington Farm Bureau CEO, John Stuhlmiller says few of the issues raised in DOE's rejection had anything to do with water quality ...
JOHN STUHLMILLER ... "This is the easy way to do it, is to say "denied" because it's coal. That is bad because what if it's wheat? Gluten intolerant people and you're sending wheat and that's, you know, we can't have that, or whatever. You can see a project where they would say, well it's going to create economic activity, that's bad for the environment, and so we can't have the economic activity. That's what I really read out of this and certainly there are undeniable impacts, but those, every project ever built there are impacts and you mitigate for those impacts. That's what this is all about."
Stuhlmiller says Millennium is aware of and addressed each and every one of DOE's concerns ...
JOHN STUHLMILLER ... "We talk about this all the time, but no businessman, no farmer gets up in the morning and says, "How can I ruin the environment just a little bit more today? I would just feel better if I could that today." That's not what happens. We all care about it. We all live here. We all have to live with the consequences of our actions. But, the principle is mitigation, if you have an impact, it can be mitigated for. Oh, and if it can't, then of course you've got to do something different. But, none of these impacts cannot be mitigated for, period!"
More on this major set-back for significant economic impact, including job creation in a depressed region of the state, tomorrow.