Preliminary work begins next week for an environmental impact study on plans to build a coal shipping terminal in Longview, Wash.
Cowlitz County, state and federal officials will take public comments on the scope of the environmental study between Aug. 16 and Nov. 18. Comments will be accepted by email, through regular mail and in person at a series of community meetings.
Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview LLC wants to build and operate a coal export terminal on the site of the former Reynolds Aluminum smelter on the Columbia River in Longview.
The scoping process will help Cowlitz County, the Washington Department of Ecology and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decide what should be studied in the environmental review of the project.
The next step in the multi-year process will be the actual environmental review. Then public comment will be taken again — at least a year from now — on a draft of the environmental impact statement.