Oregon state regulators have rejected a proposal for a coal terminal on the Columbia River that would be a conduit for exporting millions of tons of American coal a year to Asia.
The decision is a victory for tribal groups that said the terminal threatened their fishing. It's also a win for Washington state, said Kimberly Larsen with the group Climate Solutions.
"It’s significant for Washington not only because that would have impacted the Columbia Gorge, but also it’s the same company that also has a proposal in at Longview, on the Washington side," Larsen said.
An Australian company, Ambre Energy, proposed to have coal shipped by rail from Wyoming and Montana to the terminal at Boardman in northeast Oregon. There the coal would be loaded onto barges headed for another terminal nearer the mouth of the river and then exported.
The state Land Department said the terminal would interfere with what regulators called "a small but important and longstanding fishery in the state's waters." It also said Ambre hadn't properly investigated alternatives.
