Proposed Coal Export Project

Ambre Energy Subsidiary Coyote Island Terminal, LLC submitted applications to DEQ for an air quality permit and a wastewater permit for the proposed Coyote Island Terminal facility at the Port of Morrow in Boardman.

DEQ’s role in this proposed project is limited to evaluating these permit applications based on current environmental regulations and issue and enforce permits that meet these requirements. DEQ will evaluate the permit applications for the proposed project to determine what conditions to include in the permits to comply with state environmental laws. Oregon law requires DEQ to issue the permits if the company meets all compliance requirements.

Coyote Island Terminal, LLC proposes to bring up to 8.8 million tons of coal a year from Montana or Wyoming by train to the Port of Morrow in Boardman. The company would store the coal in covered storage buildings at the Port of Morrow. All coal would be transferred to enclosed barges using an enclosed conveyor system. The barges would travel down the Columbia River to a Port of St. Helens dock at Port Westward in Clatskanie where the company would load the coal via an enclosed transloading system onto ocean-going ships.

Pending applications

• Air Contaminant Discharge Permit Application
  • Memo regarding additional information about coal dust suppression

• Individual Water Pollution Control Facilities Permit
  • Proposed Project Map

What happens next?
DEQ will consider comments about the permit applications when drafting the air and water quality permits. DEQ will hold a formal comment period for the draft permits.

Questions and answers
Here are answers to questions about exporting coal from Oregon which DEQ received during December information meetings in Boardman, Clatskanie and Portland.

• DEQ authority
• Air quality permits
• Water quality permits
• Coal and diesel emissions
• Spills

For more information
Contact Mark Fisher by email or phone at 541-633-2022.

Media inquiries
Please contact Public Affairs Specialist Marcia Danab by email or phone at 503-229-6488.

Federal contact
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the lead federal agency for considering proposed coal export facilities and determining whether to issue or deny applications for permits under the Rivers and Harbors Act and the Clean Water Act. The agency is currently reviewing an application for, and doing an environmental assessment of, the proposed Coyote Island Terminal facility project and has a Coyote Island Terminal permit application review web page.

For more information contact:
Project Manager Steve Gagnon
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Portland District, Regulatory Branch
503-808-4379

State of Oregon and Environmental Protection Agency letters to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
On April 25, 2012, Governor Kitzhaber requested that the federal government do a full environmental impact statement to look at the energy, environmental and public health impacts of all the coal export projects proposed for the Northwest.

In a letter on April 5, 2012, EPA Office of Ecosytems, Tribal and Public Affairs expressed its perspective on potential environmental and health impacts of diesel emissions from trains and coal dust from proposed coal export projects. DEQ’s role is to evaluate environmental permit applications based on stringent regulations and issue and enforce permits that meet these requirements.

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