Later this month, Portland,
Oregon could become the latest city in the Pacific Northwest to officially oppose
the possibility of new coal exports through the region.
Portland Commissioner Amanda
Fritz says she’s preparing a resolution to oppose the prospect of more coal trains
traveling through the city.
Fritz, who made the revelation
during an anti-coal rally in front of the Portland office of the Army Corps of Engineers,
said she expects to present the resolution during the Sept. 19 Portland City Council
meeting.
“We’re looking at the strongest
resolution we can get passed,” she said at the Aug. 28 rally, which attracted about
150 people.
About 20 other Pacific Northwest
cities and counties have already passed resolutions either opposing coal exports
outright or raising concerns about it, including Seattle, where the City Council
unanimously passed an anti-coal resolution May 29.
Other municipalities that
have also passed anti-coal measures include Hood River, Oregon and three Washington
cities, Camas, Marysville and Washougal.
The backlash is in response
to the proposed development of about half a dozen coal export terminals through
the Pacific Northwest, where coal would be brought in from other parts of the county
by rail, then shipped to Asia. Among the largest proposals is one at the Port of
Longview, where Millennium Bulk Terminals has applied for permits to build a $600
million terminal in a bid to become one of the biggest coal exporters in North America.
Several of the other larger
coal export related port expansions are also now undergoing the formal permitting
process, including Gateway Pacific Terminal at Cherry Point in Washington state;
Kinder Morgan Terminals at St. Helen’s, Oregon; and Coyote Island Terminal at the
Port of Morrow.
Opponents of the proposed
terminals have raised concerns about potential rail congestion and environmental
damage, specifically the possibility of coal dust escaping from inbound trains and
harming the local air quality.
Proponents however, have
said that measures would be taken to ensure that dust would not escape, but that
the terminals could bring hundreds of temporary and permanent jobs to the region.
