Celebrate!

The Fairhaven neighborhood of Bellingham was the place to be this evening as many in our community gathered to celebrate a five-year fight to keep SSA Marine from implementing the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal, a massive coal export facility at Cherry Point, about a half hour's drive from Bellingham. 

On May 9 this year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a landmark decision to deny federal permits for the project, citing the potential for harm to the Lummi Nation's treaty-protected fishing rights and ancestral lands.

More than 124,000 members of the public, including me, wrote comments against the proposal, and Bellingham's RE Sources for Sustainable Communities worked closely with the Lummi Nation to keep the pressure on against this project. It's an enormous relief to know that this project is dead in the water!

The Legendary Chucklenuts, a brilliant local R & B (rhythm and blues) band, regaled the celebrants with loads of great music this evening, including one of my all-time favorites, Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl" (1967).The lead singer -- and blues harmonica virtuoso -- is a friend of ours, which made the band's music even more special.

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