Departing DNR boss jolts Longview coal-terminal plan

Becca Shew News

ByHal Bernton, Seattle Times staff reporter As he wraps up his final days in office, Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Peter Goldmark has delivered a blow to a Longview coal-export terminal by rejecting a tidal-lands sublease needed for a loading dock. Goldmark said the developer, Millennium Bulk Terminals, has repeatedly failed to provide information about the structure of the sublease, …

Diverse coalition stands up against proposed Longview coal export facility

Eric Shew News

Coal project would turn southwest Washington into the coal export capital of North America Hundreds of residents from across the Pacific Northwest testified today against a proposal to build the largest coal export terminal in North America in Longview, Washington. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) took public testimony on their Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed …

From Montana to the coast, coal dust threatens humans health

Eric Shew News

Sightline Institude : Tarika Powell and Samir Junejo A new study shows Bellingham and Longview terminals would harm communities along rail route. This article is part of the series A Crackdown on Coal Dust Update 4/4/16: The Gateway Pacific Terminal project has requested a temporary suspension of the proposal’s environmental review process. If the coal industry gets its way, the Columbia River Gorge …

Coal trains mean coal dust—period. And trackside communities should worry.

Eric Shew News

Sightline Institute,  Eric de Place This article is part of the series A Crackdown on Coal Dust So much coal dust escapes from the open-top rail cars used for transporting coal that it can create safety problems for rail traffic. Coal dust deposits sometimes cause spontaneous fires, and in 2005, for example, coal dust that had accumulated in ballast, the …

State ecologists note oil terminal’s dangers, but feds miss the memo on coal facility

Eric Shew News

Portland Business Journal While Washington ecologists noted environmental concerns in an impact report released today on the proposed Westway oil terminal in Hoquiam, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ignored pollution dangers from the proposed Millennium Bulk Terminals coal facility in Longview. So said groups that are tracking the projects in analyses released today. The Westway Terminal Co.’s project would …

Over a quarter of a million public comments against largest coal export terminal in North America

Marcela Gara News

Public Comment Period Ends As Community Concerns Grow Over Fossil Fuel Transport Given Recent Oil Train Derailment on Columbia River  Olympia, WA:   Residents traveling up from Longview, WA delivered public comments to the Washington Dept. of Ecology at the end of the 45 day public comment process.   The agency should receive over 257,000 comments calling on the Dept. of Ecology …

ARCH COAL BACKS OUT OF LONGVIEW EXPORT TERMINAL

Marcela Gara News

By Clark Williams-Derry  MAY 27, 2016 10:30 AM And another one bites the dust… Starting six years ago, Washington and Oregon found themselves besieged by a flotilla of massive, well-financed companies hell-bent on building coal export terminals to feed Asia’s allegedly insatiable appetite for coal. But the coal industry’s vision of a robust export market turned out to be a mirage: starting in early 2011, international …

New Assessment Finds Emissions From Proposed Coal Terminal Would be ‘Significant And Unavoidable’

Eric Shew News

By Natasha Geiling APR 29, 2016 2:45 PM Cowlitz County and the Washington State Department of Ecology have finally released the draft of their long-awaited Environmental Impact Statement regarding a proposed coal export terminal in Longview, Washington. Located just two hours north of Portland, Oregon, along the Columbia River, the proposed terminal would ship a maximum of 44 million metric tons …

Crucial win for Northwest communities: Army Corps upholds Lummi Nation treaty rights, denies coal permit at Cherry Point

RE Sources for Sustainable Communities News

By Samantha Wohlfeil  MAY 9, 2016 11:09 AM The proposed coal terminal at Xwe’chi’eXen, also knows as Cherry Point, Wash., is dead in the water after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a landmark decision and denied a federal permit Monday, May 9. The Corps ruled the project would impact the treaty-protected fishing rights and ancestral lands of Lummi Nation. Lummi members cheered the announcement …