News from Seward
Railroad violates air quality in Seward
COAL DUST: Inadequate steps taken to control problem, regulators say.
By RACHEL D'ORO
The Associated Press
September 19, 2007
The Alaska Railroad is proposing inadequate measures to prevent black dust from spreading from its Seward coal loading facility across the picturesque seaside town, state regulators said Tuesday.
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As the dust settles
For Seward City News by Carol Griswold
The empty Alaska Railroad coal train headed north on Wednesday, and the Yong Jia coal ship steamed back to South Korea on Tuesday, leaving in their respective wakes a lot of coal dust and unhappy locals.
At ground zero at the Seward Terminal Transfer Facility, dirty coal dust blackens the corrugated metal of the leaky conveyor belt cover, and neat, conical piles of sifted coal dust lie underneath. The remaining snow and recently exposed ground around the coal facility is black. In the harbor nearby, commercial, tourist, and pleasure boats are plastered with black coal dust, as are businesses in the harbor area and homes along the beach. A man-made disaster occurred here and people demand to know why.
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The Resurrection Bay Conservation Alliance
Ever since the Big Dipper was put into service exporting coal to the Asian market back in the eighties, Seward has had no choice other than to suffer the consequences. Reports of nuisance dust emissions started on day one and continue to this very day.
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