8/6/2019 Response to Mayor Pike

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Response from Ken Oplinger, President/CEO of the Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber 

of Commerce & Industry, to Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike’s 03 June 2011 Gateway 

Pacific Terminal Announcement 

The Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry is today extremely displeased

with the announcement that City of Bellingham Mayor Dan Pike has decided to oppose the

Gateway Pacific Terminal project.

His decision means that he has sided with the proponents of fear and ignorance over the robust

review of the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal project that the rest of our community will be

engaging in over the next few months. He has apparently decided that this exploration of the

facts should be trumped by the falsehoods and purposeful misinformation that are being forced

upon our community by those who would use this issue to raise money for their organizations

on the backs of the hard-working men and women of Bellingham and Whatcom County.

As I stated in written testimony to the Mayor earlier this week, testimony provided for his

community event on the proposed terminal, we have a business in SSA Marine that was born

here in Bellingham, and is seeking to return and invest over half a billion dollars of private

money in our County’s infrastructure. Frankly, the polite thing to do is to welcome them in, and

engage in the process of reviewing the impacts of this project. If we find, through this State

and Federally-mandated review process, that there are significant impacts which we feel

cannot be adequately mitigated, then we should absolutely oppose this project at that time.

Opposing it before that work has been completed is simply wrong.

However, while the Mayor admits in the opening paragraph of his statement that, “much about

this proposal remains unknown or unclear,” he goes on to say that he must oppose it. The

logic of this position is dubious at best, and raises the specter of this decision being made more

on political grounds than on what is best for our community.

Furthermore, he has completely left out of his statement a key point, which is that the rail and

coal impacts he alleges will occur whether the terminal is built or not, as coal trains continue to

travel to Roberts Bank, and eventually, to Prince Rupert. The Mayor’s decision will not only do

nothing to address the alleged impacts he has put in his statement, but will ensure Bellingham

will have no assistance in trying to mitigate those impacts.

8/6/2019 Response to Mayor Pike

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The Bellingham/Whatcom Chamber of Commerce & Industry will continue to work with SSA

Marine as they bring the Gateway Pacific Terminal Project to our community. When the impact

assessment has been completed, we will make our final decision on whether the project is

appropriate for Whatcom County. The Mayor’s decision to oppose the project before that

process has even begun is unfortunate, and will do nothing more that further the apparently

accurate image of Bellingham as being unfriendly to business.