Stopping the Gateway Pacific Coal Terminal

A case study by Friends of the Earth detailing the successful effort to stop the proposed Gateway Pacific coal terminal in northwest Washington, which was denied federal permits to protect the treaty rights of the Lummi Nation.

• The proposed Gateway Pacific coal terminal in northwest Washington would have been the largest coal export terminal in North America, exporting up to 48 million tons of coal annually to Asia via 1,000 ships through the Salish Sea. The project was identified as a threat to 113 threatened and endangered species and the livelihoods of 8 million people in the Salish Sea region.
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied federal permits for the Gateway Pacific coal terminal, marking the first instance of a coal export facility being rejected to protect the treaty rights of a tribal nation. The decision followed opposition from the Lummi Nation, who cited potential irreparable damage to fisheries and impacts on treaty rights, as well as a campaign by Friends of the Earth and the Power Past Coal alliance that submitted over 124,000 public comments.
• Following the stop of the Gateway Pacific project, a new proposal by Millennium Bulk Terminals for a coal export terminal in Longview, Wash. has emerged. Environmental reviews for this project indicate that it would increase rail congestion, cancer rates, and the impacts of climate change, while piling coal eight stories high along the Columbia River banks and sending 16 trains daily through Pacific Northwest communities.

APA

Fox, A. (2017). Stopping the Gateway Pacific Coal Terminal. Friends of the Earth. https://foe.org/victory-stories/impact-story-2/

Chicago

Fox, Audrey. Stopping the Gateway Pacific Coal Terminal. Friends of the Earth, 2017. https://foe.org/victory-stories/impact-story-2/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fox |first1=Audrey |title=Stopping the Gateway Pacific Coal Terminal |publisher=Friends of the Earth |date=17 November 2017 |url=https://foe.org/victory-stories/impact-story-2/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fox2017stopping, author = {Fox, Audrey}, title = {{Stopping the Gateway Pacific Coal Terminal}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://foe.org/victory-stories/impact-story-2/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }