Floating a giant inflatable salmon, a polar bear and dozens of anti-coal signs, protestors of the controversial terminal overflowed into the street in front of the 3500-capactiy state convention center in Seattle.

The demonstration reiterated the fierce environmental resistance faced by port developers in the Pacific Northwest over a major press to enhance West Coast coal export capacity.

Local media has reported on emotional testimonies from schoolchildren, ranchers and farmers in the region as well as the anti-port groups’ insistence that Cherry Point’s environmental impact statement should consider broader, more global ecological impacts.

Unions, industry representatives and regional politicians supporting the coal facility countered that Asian markets to receive the exported coal would only find dirtier, higher-sulfur alternatives from other suppliers if the terminal was rejected.

Port supporters have also cited the economic risks of broadening the EIS to include global impacts, saying it would make Washington appear less inviting to business investment.

The Associated Press quoted Shahraim Allen of the Washington State Legislative Board of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, on the need to scrutinize Cherry Point in a local context only.

“Should the impact on Puget Sound be studied? Without a doubt,” he said.

“But that is where the studies should stop.”

Much of the controversial nature of the proposed terminal just 17 miles from Canada derives from its sheer size.

With an expected coal throughput of 50 million tons per annum, the proposed Gateway Pacific deep-water near Cherry Point would become the largest coal export facility in North America.

SSA Marine is developing the terminal to include a 3000-foot wharf that will berth three ships and a 1250-foot trestle to link them to shore.

Expansion for the project beyond its current 350-acre scope seems likely as SSA Marine notes the Cherry Point industrial site encompasses 1000 acres of developable land.

The possibility of an estimated 18 trainloads of coal crossing Seattle per day prompted the city’s mayor last week to demand a coal train study.

“Seattle’s economy is growing at a faster pace than the rest of the region, state and country,” Mayor Mike McGinn said.

“As the entire city works together to recover from the longest, deepest recession since the Great Depression, we need to do our due diligence to analyze the negative impacts to our local economy should this coal train proposal become a reality.”