PETITION TO THE UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS Petition to Undertake Area-Wide Environmental Impact Statement on All Proposed Coal Export Terminals in Washington and Oregon

A coalition of environmental and health organizations petitions the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to move beyond project-specific reviews and undertake a comprehensive area-wide Environmental Impact Statement for proposed coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest. The petitioners argue that the combined capacity of approximately 100 million metric tons of coal per year creates systemic risks to rail infrastructure, public health, and global climate that cannot be adequately assessed on a site-by-site basis.

• The petitioners request an area-wide EIS to address cumulative impacts that individual reviews overlook, specifically citing rail traffic, pollution, safety, and health issues along the route from the Powder River Basin to the coast, as well as increased mining in Wyoming and Montana.
• The combined announced capacity of the proposed projects is approximately 100 million metric tons of coal per year, which would result in roughly 60 coal trains, each about 1.5 miles long, passing through Pacific Northwest communities daily.
• The petition identifies several specific projects with pending applications: the Gateway Pacific Terminal in Cherry Point, Washington; the Millennium Bulk Logistics site in Longview, Washington; and the Morrow Pacific project, which includes facilities at the Port of Morrow and Port of St. Helens in Oregon.
• The proposed terminals would impact the 'usual and accustomed' fishing areas of Pacific Northwest Indian tribes, specifically threatening the spawning grounds of Puget Sound herring and the salmon populations that tribes rely upon.
• The petition argues that an area-wide EIS is necessary to evaluate global climate impacts, including increased greenhouse gas emissions from coal combustion in Asia and the resulting air-borne mercury deposition in the Northwest.
• The petitioners assert that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the appropriate lead agency because all pending proposals require its approval under the Clean Water Act and/or the Rivers and Harbors Act.

APA

Earthjustice (2013). PETITION TO THE UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS Petition to Undertake Area-Wide Environmental Impact Statement on All Proposed Coal Export Terminals in Washington and Oregon. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/coalexportpetitionareawideeis.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. PETITION TO THE UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS Petition to Undertake Area-Wide Environmental Impact Statement on All Proposed Coal Export Terminals in Washington and Oregon. 2013. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/coalexportpetitionareawideeis.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=PETITION TO THE UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS Petition to Undertake Area-Wide Environmental Impact Statement on All Proposed Coal Export Terminals in Washington and Oregon |date=22 May 2013 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/coalexportpetitionareawideeis.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2013petition, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{PETITION TO THE UNITED STATES ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS Petition to Undertake Area-Wide Environmental Impact Statement on All Proposed Coal Export Terminals in Washington and Oregon}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2013}, month = may, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/coalexportpetitionareawideeis.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }