August 2004
Cover Story
Is the Commerce Corridor a Done Deal? Hard to Say
by Matthew Thuney
Matthew Thuney writes the monthly Whatcom Watch column, Thuney Casserole.
June 24, 2004, proved to be a night of resentment and surprises for many residents of eastern Whatcom County. It was an evening when the minions of development attempted to hold court in a little backwater town called Van Zandt and almost literally got run out on a rail.
On June 24, the Van Zandt Community Hall was packed to overflowing. Citizens of every stripefarmers, shopkeepers, students, teachers, administratorsgathered to hear about this sudden proposal for a Commerce Corridor to be carved all the way from Sumas, through Whatcom Countys foothills region, roughly following Highway 9 all the way down to Lewis County. A corridor roughly 710 feet wide. Filled with concrete, iron and steel. Both above and below the ground. A corridor for trucks, buses, trains, power and gas. Mostly, a corridor of power. And the Powers That Be want it bad.
Privately Funded Venture
Who are the Powers That Be behind this massive snake of highway, railway, electric lines and pipelines? The Commerce Corridor claims to be a privately funded venture, but apart from banking interests who stand to make lots of money lending cash to this project, who stands to gain? Hard to say.
One things easy to say, though: In that crowded Van Zandt Community Hall on the night of June 24, only a handful of folks supported the Commerce Corridor. Theyre the ones who proposed the idea in the first place, and even they thought pouring a massive concrete highway through the Cascade foothills was a bad idea.
In fact, the representative of the Washington Association of Rail Passengers (WashARP), a rather exuberant fellow named Tony Trifoletti, said, Building a road is a really bad idea. This brought shocked glances and furrowed brows from Arno Hart, corridor project consultant for Wilbur Smith Associates, and State Rep. Doug Erickson, who appears to have been one of the primary movers behind the corridor feasibility study in the state legislature. Both gentlemen looked rather uncomfortablein a dignified way, of coursemost of the evening.
For there was no joy in Van Zandt over this proposal.
Which came as something of a shock to the WashARP folks. You see, theyre all about trains. They love the look of trains, they love the feel of trains, they love the way trains can carry tons of goods and people at a minimum of monetary expense and expenditure of fuel. Check out their Web site at http://www.washarp.org. Its a train aficionados paradise.
From Sumas to Tenino
WashARPs original proposal was to build whats known as a Cooper Corridor. Named after the concepts inventor Dr. Hal B. H. Cooper, Jr., Cooper Corridors are generally built along existing railway rights-of-way. What WashARP apparently brought before the legislature was a plan to add a second rail line to the existing route that roughly follows Highway 9, from Sumas down to Tenino, south of Olympia.
According to WashARP, this so-called Cascade Foothills Corridor would involve a freight rail line, electric transmission lines, and pipelines for natural gas, petroleum products and water. Their goal is to move as many trucks as possible by rail. Not one word about a superhighway. So how did this feasibility study become magically expanded to include a fully paved super-sized commercial vehicle artery? Again, hard to say.
But the people of the Cascade foothills had plenty to say about the proposed corridor and its possible impact on their communities. Organized and chaired by Jeff Margolis, owner of Everybodys Store, the June 24 gathering saw a panel of consultants, legislators and economists respond to a barrage of thoughtful criticism, pointed questions, and thinly veiled hostility from a series of local citizens, business owners and educators.
Community Concerns
Heres a short list of community concerns surrounding the Commerce Corridor project:
Environmental impact: The corridor would run right through the central valley of the Cascade foothills. Its an area bordered by mountains and tall hills. Pollution from gas and diesel powered vehicles would likely become trapped in the valley, causing untold damage to the local flora, fauna and human inhabitants. Likewise, the valley is crisscrossed by an intricate network of rivers, streams and creeks, the lifeblood of the farms, fish and wildlife of the region.
Geological instability: Being in the shadow of a volcano (Mt. Baker), the area is frequently rocked by small earthquakes. Would the soil be firm enough to sustain such a massive infusion of infrastructure both below and above ground? Pipelines and high-tension poles on this shaky ground? And, getting back to the aforementioned waterways, what about the constant threat of flooding?
Lack of local control: Educator Nan Laney summed up the concerns of many when she observed, The people who bring money to the project control the project. Since the corridor would be a privately funded project, there is little or no guarantee of public accountability on the part of the projects backers.
Funding: When private projects such as the corridor fall short of their funding goals or become insolvent (yes, it has been known to happen), then the monetary shortfall inevitably falls on the shoulders of the local public in the form of taxes, levies and bonds. The citizens of the foothills might just end up paying for something they never wanted in the first place.
Agriculture: The valley is dotted with small family and cooperative farms. These farms help sustain the economy of the foothills region. By ripping a wide swath right through the center of the valley and filling it with fossil fuel burning vehicles, what will happen to these small farms? Will there be a subsequent population boom in eastern Whatcom County? If so, its likely well see a replay of whats happened in the rest of the countyfarms being consumed for housing developments.
Tourism: Who doesnt like to go for a walk, ride or hike in the country? In addition to agriculture, the Cascade foothills are hugely dependent on tourism. Its a relatively pristine region that acts as an escape valve for the rest of Whatcom County and other stressed-out urban areas to the south. Will city folk still want to go for a walk, ride or hike in the country when theres no country left?
Jobs: Often such projects as the Commerce Corridor promise an economic nirvana of new jobs and increased business opportunities. Rarely is this the case, long-term. Sure, theres an immediate upsurge in jobs as ditches are dug, concrete is poured, towers are erected and rail lines laid down. But once the construction work is done, what next? Just a bunch of trucks and trains whizzing by through a gouged-out zone of noise and pollution that has farms closing down, fish dwindling and tourism dropping to nothing. And one thing to remember: the corridor will allow only one exit per county. Just enough for a strip mall, some gas stations and a bunch of fast food joints. Enjoy that minimum wage while youre chowing down on a South American burger and gassing up on foreign fossil fuels.
On and on the complaints were registered before the panel, long into the night. Perhaps the citizens concerns were best summed up in a forceful presentation by former County Councilmember and attorney Dan Warner. The massiveness of the Commerce Corridor would adversely affect our lifestyle, warned Warner. Further, carving an eight-lane superhighway through the eastern Whatcom County countryside wont solve anybody elses problems. Itll just spread the sprawl and pollution around some more.
Current County Councilmember Seth Fleetwood could hardly hide his disgust at the proposal. As Seattle to the south and Vancouver to the north expand, Fleetwood said, the communities in between become little more than a crowded bookshelf; and were in the middle. Councilmember Fleetwood concluded, Just say no.
Hills and Mountains Are Mere Obstacles
Even chairperson/moderator Jeff Margolis found it difficult to contain his vexation with the project and its proponents. Margolis wondered openly about the environmental and human costs of the corridor, and took the WashARP railway representatives to task when they spoke of the surrounding hills and mountains as mere obstacles to simply be bored and drilled through.
Wilbur Smiths Arno Hart attempted to mollify the skeptical panelists, speakers and audience with soothing assurances that this was only a feasibility studythat no actual plans had yet been made for the corridor. This would involve a fair and transparent process, said Mr. Hart, complete with a full-fledged environmental impact study. But, based on the fact that Wilbur Smith Associates (WSA) seems to excel in laying the public relations and legislative groundwork for such Trade and Transportation Corridors (as theyre called on the WSA Web site, http://www.wilbursmith.com) and the fact that the Cascade Foothills Commerce Corridor is considered by WSA to be just one small link in a High Priority Corridor stretching from Sumas all the way to the Mexican border, the proceedings of June 24 conveyed the distinctly pungent odor of a corporately funded fait accompli.
Will there be more meetings to insure public input? Well, you probably already missed a big one. That was held on July 16 down in Bellevue, a safe distance from the proposed corridor and its unhappy inhabitants. The next public meeting will occur in October at an undetermined location.
No doubt, many comments and criticisms will be collected concerning the Commerce Corridor in the months to come. But will they be heard?
Hard to say.
Become Aware, Become Loud
So, what do we do now? Become aware, become involved, become loud. Most of all, start contacting people and make your feelings about the corridor known. Begin with friends and neighbors. Lots of folks arent even conscious of this monstrosity yet. Make them conscious. Wake them up. Once youve done that, contact the people listed in the sidebar.
As voting citizens of Whatcom County and caring neighbors all down through the path of this corridor, we have the right to find out what this project involves and who is behind it. And, if we discover that the Commerce Corridor is already a done deal, we have the responsibility to undo it. §