Coal Export Projects
Two coal terminal proposals would result in 20 additional fully loaded coal trains traveling through the Columbia Gorge
A fully loaded coal train travels over Horsethief Lake in the eastern Gorge, where pollution from coal dust blow-off has been a problem. (photographer: Kathy Fors)
Due to public opposition, cost and logistical issues, and a declining coal market, the number of proposals to export coal from the Pacific Northwest has declined from an original six to just two. However, these two remaining projects are the largest and if built would result in 20 additional, fully loaded coal trains thundering the Columbia River Gorge each day.
Millennium Bulk Terminals – Longview, WA
July 2017: Despite the fact its sublease was denied in January (thus rendering Millennium a "zombie" project with little chance of being built), Millennium is still continuing forward with its 401 water permit application. That application opened for public comment on July 3, with a closing date of July 27. Learn more about that permit and submit comments online at the Washington Department of Ecology's website.
May 2017: The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Millennium coal terminal proposal was released by the Washington Department of Ecology and Cowlitz County. In the FEIS, the agencies have determined that the project would cause multiple significant, adverse impacts to both the environment and communities in the Columbia River basin. The FEIS is used to decide whether to issue or deny permits to Millennium. The findings mean that Ecology and Cowlitz County should deny Millennium’s permit applications. Any other outcome would be scientifically and legally unsupported.
January 2017: The proposal to transport 44 million tons of coal per year through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (NSA) in open-topped coal cars to a terminal on the Columbia River in Longview, WA likely met its end on Jan. 3, when the Washington Department of Natural Resources denied a sublease from the project applicants for state-owned aquatic lands in the Columbia River adjacent to the proposed coal terminal. DNR has broad authority to grant or deny subleases.
Previously, in 2010-11, the applicants were caught being untruthful to state regulators about the size and scope of the project and were forced to reapply and undergo extensive environmental review. On April 29, 2016, the long-awaited draft environmental impact statement was issued, followed by a 45-day comment period and three public hearings; by the end of that period, over 257,000 comments had been submitted, the vast majority of them opposing the project.
Reviewing agencies for this project included Cowlitz County, the Department of Ecology, Department of Natural Resources and Army Corps of Engineers. The project was opposed by several tribes in the Columbia Basin and SW Washington, local governments throughout the region, hundreds of health care providers and thousands of citizens in Washington.
Read the Power Past Coal coalition's (of which Friends is a member) talking points regarding the Millennium terminal DEIS.
DENIED: Gateway Pacific Terminal – Cherry Point, WA:
On May 9, 2016 the Army Corps of Engineers denied this project based on the determination that it would result in major violations of the Lummi Nations tribal treaty rights. Peabody Coal and SSA Marine had proposed to transport 48 million tons of coal per year by rail through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in open coal cars to an export terminal in Cherry Point, WA. The project, which would have been the largest coal export terminal in the United States, faced stiff environmental hurdlers and broad-based opposition. The Lummi Nation opposed the project on the grounds that it violated the Tribe’s 1855 treaty that assured the Tribe’s rights to fish in its usual and accustomed places in perpetuity. The project would have destroyed cultural resources and disrupted tribal fishing. The denial of the permit is a huge victory for the Lummi Nation and its many allies, including Friends and the Power Past Coal coalition, which supported the protection of their treaty rights and opposed this massive terminal proposal.
Update, Status of Projects:
Millennium Bulk Terminals – Longview, WA
July 2017: Despite the fact its sublease was denied in January (thus rendering Millennium a "zombie" project with little chance of being built), Millennium is still continuing forward with its 401 water permit application. That application opened for public comment on July 3, with a closing date of July 27. Learn more about that permit and submit comments online at the Washington Department of Ecology's website.
May 2017: The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Millennium coal terminal proposal was released by the Washington Department of Ecology and Cowlitz County. In the FEIS, the agencies have determined that the project would cause multiple significant, adverse impacts to both the environment and communities in the Columbia River basin. The FEIS is used to decide whether to issue or deny permits to Millennium. The findings mean that Ecology and Cowlitz County should deny Millennium’s permit applications. Any other outcome would be scientifically and legally unsupported.
January 2017: The proposal to transport 44 million tons of coal per year through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area (NSA) in open-topped coal cars to a terminal on the Columbia River in Longview, WA likely met its end on Jan. 3, when the Washington Department of Natural Resources denied a sublease from the project applicants for state-owned aquatic lands in the Columbia River adjacent to the proposed coal terminal. DNR has broad authority to grant or deny subleases.
Previously, in 2010-11, the applicants were caught being untruthful to state regulators about the size and scope of the project and were forced to reapply and undergo extensive environmental review. On April 29, 2016, the long-awaited draft environmental impact statement was issued, followed by a 45-day comment period and three public hearings; by the end of that period, over 257,000 comments had been submitted, the vast majority of them opposing the project.
Reviewing agencies for this project included Cowlitz County, the Department of Ecology, Department of Natural Resources and Army Corps of Engineers. The project was opposed by several tribes in the Columbia Basin and SW Washington, local governments throughout the region, hundreds of health care providers and thousands of citizens in Washington.
Read the Power Past Coal coalition's (of which Friends is a member) talking points regarding the Millennium terminal DEIS.
DENIED: Gateway Pacific Terminal – Cherry Point, WA:
On May 9, 2016 the Army Corps of Engineers denied this project based on the determination that it would result in major violations of the Lummi Nations tribal treaty rights. Peabody Coal and SSA Marine had proposed to transport 48 million tons of coal per year by rail through the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in open coal cars to an export terminal in Cherry Point, WA. The project, which would have been the largest coal export terminal in the United States, faced stiff environmental hurdlers and broad-based opposition. The Lummi Nation opposed the project on the grounds that it violated the Tribe’s 1855 treaty that assured the Tribe’s rights to fish in its usual and accustomed places in perpetuity. The project would have destroyed cultural resources and disrupted tribal fishing. The denial of the permit is a huge victory for the Lummi Nation and its many allies, including Friends and the Power Past Coal coalition, which supported the protection of their treaty rights and opposed this massive terminal proposal.