Short-Sighted Federal Review of Proposed Longview Coal Terminal Kicks Off

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Coal Company’s Project Would Turn Southwest Washington into the Coal Export Capitol of North America

September 30, 2016 (Longview, WA) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released their Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Millennium Bulk Terminals’ proposed coal export terminal Sept. 30, 2016. The Army Corps’ review focuses narrowly on the project’s impacts at the terminal site, ignoring pollution and safety effects from sixteen new trains traveling through Spokane, the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, and dozens of communities along the rail line. Because the Army Corps fails to analyze rail line impacts, they ignore the massive dust loss from open-top coal trains - an average of 500 pounds per car. Unlike an environmental review released earlier this year by Washington state and Cowlitz County, the Corps’ review ignores climate impacts from mining and burning 44 million tons of coal per year. The Longview project would be the largest coal export terminal in North America.

“If Millennium built their coal export terminal, the greenhouse gas emissions would be equivalent to adding at least seven coal-fired power plants, according to the DEIS,” explained Beth Doglio, Co-Director of the Power Past Coal Coalition, “Our climate can’t afford a project that flies in the face of our region’s investment in clean energy.”

Earlier this year the Washington Department of Ecology and Cowlitz County received more than 250,000 comments on the state’s environmental review for Millennium. The majority of commenters, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. EPA, Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Department of Health, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, and the Cowlitz Tribe, asked regulators to deny the project or raised serious concerns about mitigating impacts. The Ecology review took a broad look at the terminal’s impacts, accounting for the health and safety issues that would come with more frequent coal trains and the climate pollution emitted when the coal is burned in Asia. In comparison, the Army Corps review ignores the project’s regional and global impacts.

“Millennium Bulk Terminals is a dead-end project with little public support; they are broke and without a market. Coal's time has come and gone; renewable energy and green jobs are on the rise, promising a brighter future with a better quality of life for our community,” said Les Anderson, president of Longview Landowners and Citizens for a Safe Community.

The coal industry is in a downward spiral. Following its bankruptcy, Arch Coal wrote off of its shares in Millennium’s project and walked away from a $57 million investment. Millennium’s sole backer is Lighthouse Resources, which relies primarily on revenues from coal mining to fund its operations.

Since 2010, the coal industry has shelved plans for three coal export terminals in the Northwest, and agencies denied permits for two others, most recently the Gateway Pacific terminal in Whatcom County, Washington. A proposal remains for a four million ton per year coal terminal in Surrey, British Columbia.

Millennium cannot build shipping docks and over-water conveyors until the Army Corps signs-off on the project. The Corps is accepting public comments through November 29 and will hold two public hearings:

  • October 24, 2016, at 1:00 - 9:00 pm Cowlitz Regional Conference Center, 1900 7th Avenue, Longview, WA (RSVP)
  • October 25, 2015, at 1:00 - 9:00 pm Clark County Event Center, 17402 NE Delfel Road, Ridgefield, WA (RSVP)

Highlights from the Army Corps’ DEIS:

Narrow Study Area Ignores Project’s Impacts

  • Coal Train Impacts Study Area: The rail corridor study area only looks at impacts through the Longview industrial area, which was defined as the Reynolds Lead and BNSF Spur between the project areas and BNSF main line (at Longview Junction). DEIS at 6.1-2; 7-31. The DEIS ignores the impacts of sixteen new coal trains per day (8 loaded, 8 unloaded)--the equivalent of 5,840 new trains per year.
  • The Corps ignores the impacts of Millennium’s rail traffic on Spokane, the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, and dozens of communities along the rail line.
  • Greenhouse Gas Emissions Study Area: “The study area for the cumulative impacts from greenhouse gas emissions is the same as the air quality cumulative study area: the On-Site Alternative and Off-Site Alternative project areas, Reynolds Lead and BNSF Spur rail corridor, and the lower Columbia River.” DEIS at 6.8-5; 7-48. In contrast, Washington state’s DEIS concluded that the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions from the project are equivalent to over seven coal-fired power plants (27 million tons per year net carbon dioxide emissions).

Millennium’s Disproportionate Impact on Minority, Low-Income Community

  • DEIS concludes Millennium would have a disproportionately high and adverse effect on minority and low-income populations near the terminal site. DEIS at ES-9.

Corps Ignores the Impacts of Coal Dust, Rail Traffic on Tribes

  • Corps fails to consider the impacts of 16 coal trains on tribal members that fish along the Columbia upstream of the terminal. The BNSF and Union Pacific rail lines run along the Columbia. See DEIS at 7-18.

More Train Accidents

  • The DEIS concludes that Millennium’s coal train traffic would result in more accidents, concluding the project would result in one accident every two years. DEIS at ES-6.

Coal isn't the only fuel the fossil fuel industry is trying to push through Washington State. Several proposed oil export projects are in play, including:

    • The Westway oil by rail terminal at Grays Harbor. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) is now out, look for release specific to that proposal. The City of Hoquiam Administrator could approve the permit as soon as seven days after the FEIS comes out.
    • The Shell Refinery oil by rail expansion in Anacortes Draft Environmental Impact Statement Hearing schedule will be published imminently.

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POWER PAST COAL is an ever-growing alliance of health, environmental, clean-energy, faith and community groups and businesses working to stop coal export off the West Coast.   Powerpastcoal.org  Twitter: @powerpastcoal.