Eric de Place of the non-profit think tank Sightline Institute, as part of the series A Crackdown on Coal, explores the dangers of coal dust to communities along rail lines, explains why shippers won't avoid the problem by simply covering coal cars, and recaps the peer-reviewed study conducted in 2013-14 in the Columbia Gorge and other areas of the Pacific Northwest by a research team led by atmospheric science professor Dr. Dan Jaffe. The study, published last year, "concluded that passing coal trains do in fact spread notable quantities of dust. What’s more, a small number of coal trains qualify as “super-dusters,” sending prolific volumes of coal dust into the air, clearly visible to the naked eye."

Read the Sightline Institute article.

Read more about coal export through the Columbia Gorge.