Army Corps of Engineers says no to broad review of coal exports
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not conduct an all-encompassing review of the three coal export projects proposed in the Northwest, rejecting requests from Oregon and Washington’s governors and project opponents. Jennifer Moyer, acting chief of the Corps’ regulatory program, told a House subcommittee today that the agency would…
(Reuters) – U.S. officials who administer a federal coal program have undervalued the fuel, costing taxpayers $62 million in some recent mining leases alone, said a government report released on Tuesday. Read the full story here.
Paul Anderson
OPINION: Area-wide assessment of impacts sought for proposed coal terminal
A few months ago more than 124,000 comments by community members including doctors, teachers, business owners, fishers and tribal members flooded the Department of Ecology, Army Corps of Engineers and Whatcom County Planning Department with requests that these regulating agencies assess a broad range of probable impacts associated with the…
Coal train supporters decry ‘stall tactics’
A coalition of environmental groups is asking the federal government to step in and combine the environmental studies for three different coal export terminal proposals into one. Read the full story here.
Kinder Morgan scraps Port Westward coal terminal proposal
Texas-based Kinder Morgan officials announced Wednesday they are dropping plans to build a $150 million coal terminal at Port Westward, a move cheered by environmentalists and lamented by Clatskanie officials. Read the full story here.
Dan Bates
Coal trains would worsen Marysville’s traffic problem
MARYSVILLE — When it comes to traffic backups from more coal trains, Marysville is Snohomish County’s ground zero. Of 33 street crossings on BNSF Railway’s north-south line in the county, 16 — nearly half — are in Marysville. Many of them already are congested. Read the full story here.
Kinder Morgan drops plans to build coal export terminal at Port of St. Helens industrial park
Terminal developer Kinder Morgan will not go forward with a proposal to export coal to Asia from the Port Westward industrial park on the Columbia River, a company spokesman said this morning. Kinder Morgan’s Allen Fore attributed the decision not to seek permits for a coal export terminal to site logistics…
In Montana, ranchers line up against coal
COLSTRIP, Mont. — Out in these windy stretches of cottonwood and prairie grass, not far from where Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer ran into problems at Little Bighorn, a new battle is unfolding over what future energy development in the West will look like. Here, rancher Wallace McRae and his…
Coal miners protest at Arch Coal meeting in Wyoming
WRIGHT, Wyo. — About 20 coal miners from all over the country descended upon a small coal town in northeast Wyoming on Thursday. Active and retired miners — together under the United Mine Workers of America banner — gathered in front of the Wright Hotel shortly after 7 a.m. The…
New regional alliance opposes coal-export plan from state ports
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn on Monday announced a new alliance of politicians and tribal leaders opposed to exporting Western coal to Asia from Washington ports. “We will stand together … to tell our federal and state leaders that we don’t want the coal trains here in the Pacific Northwest,” McGinn…
OPINION: Coal trains are poor policy
A long-view of coal-export facilities weaves together who is paying for what, the spectrum of environmental impacts, and forecasting where the country will be a generation from now. But politics are rarely hitched to a long view of history. Read the full story here.
Coal Opponents Say Coos Bay Terminal has Derailed
Coal export opponents are reporting that all the private companies looking into developing a coal export terminal in Oregon’s Coos Bay have now dropped out. Read the full story here.
Northwest Railroads Will Need Improvements To Handle Coal Trains
The five coal export terminals proposed for Washington and Oregon could add dozens of trains a day to Northwest railways. Those trains would mean new business for coal companies, railroad companies and the ports. They would create short-term construction jobs and long-term port and railroad jobs. They would generate tax revenue for…
Port of Coos Bay coal-export proposal ends after 18 months of work
Another Northwest coal export project has dropped off the boards. The Port of Coos Bay said today that it has ended its exclusive negotiating agreement with Metro Ports of California, which had been exploring a coal export terminal in Coos Bay. Read the full story here.