CC Minutes - 10/08/12 Work Session

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MINUTES Eugene City Council Bascom /Tykeson Room — Eugene Public Library 100 West 10` Avenue — Eugene, Oregon October 8, 2012 5:30 p.m. COUNCILORS PRESENT: George Brown, Pat Farr, Betty Taylor, Mike Clark, Chris Pryor, George Poling, Alan Zelenka COUNCILORS ABSENT: Andrea Ortiz A. Work Session: Panel Discussion on the Transport of Coal for Export through Eugene Mayor Piercy opened the meeting, turning the floor over to Central Services Executive Director Kristie Hammitt and Sustainability Liaison Babe O'Sullivan who introduced the four guest panelists: Reedsport Mayor Keith Tymchuk, Dr. Andy Harris, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Ross MacFarlane, Climate Solutions Mission, and David Koch, Oregon International Port of Coos Bay. Each person spoke or presented information for about 10 minutes, sharing their perspective on coal use as an energy form, the transport of coal through the area, market demands, impacts and side effects of shipping coal, climate impacts of both shipping and burning coal as a fuel, reliance on fossil fuels in general, job impacts related to both supporting and not supporting coal transport, costs of coal processing, economic impacts of repeated budget reductions, and environmental and health concerns. The Mayor and councilors asked a variety of questions, attempting to gather as much information as possible. Some of the questions, thoughts and comments are listed below. • Is there a Cumulative Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)? No, not yet. • What about the larger issue of impact to the whole northwest? Limited information at this time. • Why not look at the entire shipping routes, and why not look at all the cargos? Coos Bay has done this and more study is needed. Coos County will look at the entire picture, with a full EIS. • How long would the study and discussion of coal transport impacts be? Six months, longer? Maybe 2 years? Senator Ryden asked for an in -depth study of environmental and other impacts of fossil fuel transport. • Regarding dust escaping cars, what safety measures are currently in place? Covered cars, extra tariff costs, covered processing facilities, use of chemical suppressants to reduce dust loss as the trains move. • Regarding the Coos Bay rail lines, what kinds of cargo are shipped? Surely not just coal. A variety of things, but coal is an important commodity for the rail system. • What is the number of miles the coal would be shipped through Oregon? Anywhere from 1, 000 to 1, 700 miles total. • Concerns expressed about transporting "big coal" and the ultimate impact of burning coal as an energy source. • Concerns were raised about the global impacts of coal use and the catastrophic impact to the Earth/air /water. • A comprehensive EIS is important and should be done. MINUTES – Eugene City Council October 8, 2012 Page 1 Work Session