May 9, 2013 – How terribly satisfying to know that yet another
coal export terminal planned for the Pacific Northwest will not be
developed. Houston-based Kinder Morgan
announced it is dropping its plans for a coal export terminal, to be situated
near the town of Clatskanie (don’t you love the town names in Oregon and
Washington?). Kinder Morgan, a terminal
and pipeline operator, investigated options near Clatskanie for 16 months, but
never applied for any permits. The
intent was to ship coal to Asia from the Columbia River port. The project’s failure to actualize means a
reprieve from coal train traffic for Portland.
This is the third coal export project to be abandoned in the
Northwest. Taken together, the three proposed
terminals represented up to $550 million in investment, 305 permanent jobs, and
almost 50 million tons of Montana and Wyoming coal. Three more projects await approval. Of the six original proposals, Clatskanie
would have generated the most coal train traffic through Portland. Environmentalists opposed the trains because
of the coal dust, diesel pollution, and traffic congestion problems associated with
them. As many as 12 mile-long trains
would have passed through North Portland every day, had the Clatskanie project
moved forward.
An additional problem encountered at the Clatskanie site was
natural-gas-fired power plants, owned by Portland General Electric (PGE). Located in Port Westward Industrial Park, PGE
feared that coal dust would foul the operational parts of the plants. (It doesn’t take a particularly lurid
imagination to guess what that same coal dust might do to human lungs)! While Kinder Morgan has not acknowledged the
vehement opposition to Clatskanie that activists brought to bear,
environmentalists believe it played a role in KM’s decision, says Brett
VandenHeuvel, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper.
VandenHeuvel believes that coal export is simply not a
viable option in the Northwest. Union
leaders, coal companies, and terminal developers disagree. Their stance, that coal will be shipped
through Canada if it cannot pass through the Northwest, is based on concern
about the jobs lost. One might also
suppose it is founded largely on concern about the money not made. Since VandenHeuvel says he doesn’t expect any
more terminals to be proposed, that concern could be quite legitimate. Coal export has become a toxic subject in the
state of Oregon.
There remain three projects under consideration, as they
undergo the arduous approval/permitting process. Two of them are located in Washington, one is
in Oregon. One of the terminals, to be
sited near Bellingham, Washington, would be called Gateway Pacific and would
handle 53 million tons of coal per year.
Another terminal that goes by the name of Millenium Bulk Terminals, to
be located in Longview, Washington, would handle almost 49 million tons
annually. Ambre Energy’s Morrow Pacific
Project would be built in Boardman, Oregon, out of which 9 million tons would
be shipped annually.
May they never see the light of day.
With thanks to The Daily Climate.
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