Plans to build a shipping terminal near the mouth of the Columbia River to export Rocky Mountain coal to Asia have resurfaced — and this time the proposal is bigger than ever. Read more.
Ambre Energy: Caveat Investor
The decline of US coal demand has sparked renewed interest in exporting American coal to Asia. One of the highest-profile players in the coal export arena is an Australian firm called Ambre Energy, which is planning two controversial export terminal projects on the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon. Read the…
Millennium coal dock still on hold one year after filing permits
One year. One coal terminal. Zero progress. That’s the beef of Millennium Bulk Terminals’ officials, who say they are frustrated that it’s taking so long to start the environmental review of their proposal to build a $643 million coal dock just west of Longview. Read the full story here.
Ambre Energy too unstable to profit from coal exports, group warns
The Australia-based parent company proposing to build two coal terminals on the Lower Columbia River is swimming in debt that could put the project in peril, a Seattle-based conservation group said Wednesday. Read the full story here.
OPINION: Set the environmental bar high on coal transport and export
From the boisterous meeting at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, it was clear residents from far and wide want the broadest possible review of plans for a coal port near Bellingham. The intimate gathering of thousands last week was the final of seven sessions — in Bellingham, Friday…
Bellingham residents at odds over coal proposal
BELLINGHAM – This progressive college town is known for its stunning scenery, access to the outdoors and eclectic mix of aging hippies, students and other residents. But lately it’s turned into a battleground in the debate over whether the Pacific Northwest should become the hub for exporting U.S. coal to…
Epic Northwest battle: Defining how big a deal coal ports are
It is being called “unprecedented” but it seems to be rolling out as its authors had intended, perhaps the biggest experiment in environmental democracy the Northwest has ever seen. That would be the “scoping” process to determine what effects the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal north of Bellingham would have on…
Study: Coal Trains Would Hit Property Values Hard
A new study commissioned by Seattle-based Climate Solutions concluded that a proposal to run as many as 18 1.6-mile-long coal trains a day through Seattle to a new coal terminal in Bellingham could cost property owners along the route as much as $265 million in lost property values. The report…
Coal Trains Could Delay Downtown, SoDo Traffic By One to Three Hours a Day, Study Finds
Building the nation’s largest coal export terminal outside of Bellingham, Washington, could delay traffic in Seattle at eight key points in Belltown and SoDo by one to three hours, significantly impacting commuter traffic and emergency vehicles’ response times, according to a traffic study released today and commissioned by the City…