Mayor McGinn testifies in Congress to stop coal trains in Pacific Northwest

WASHINGTON — Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is calling on Congress to stop coal trains from rolling through the state.

McGinn made his case testifying before members of the House Energy & Commerce Committee Tuesday.

He updated them on the plan by coal companies, railroads and international shipping companies to build two new export facilities in Washington state.

The arguments against the coal trains are familiar. People are worried about pollution from coal dust in the air and extra traffic from the mile-long trains.

Those who support the coal export expansion plans argue shipping more than 100 million tons of coal to Asia each year helps the state and federal economy and the new export facilities would create jobs.

McGinn called on lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to do an environmental impact study.

KIRO