EarthFix · Oregon Public Broadcasting, August 18, 2014
By Cassandra Profita
Oregon regulators announced Monday they will not issue a permit for a controversial coal export dock in Boardman.
The announcement follows a fight between the Morrow Pacific coal export project developer Ambre Energy and Columbia River tribes over tribal fishing at the proposed dock site.
Oregon Department of State Lands director Mary Abrams said her agency weighed numerous factors before making the decision, including public comments, economic and social impacts of the project, and whether the project meets state requirements for protecting water resources, navigation, fishing and public recreation.
In a news release Monday, the agency announced it determined that the Morrow Pacific project “is not consistent with the protection, conservation and best use of the state’s water resources, and that the applicant did not provide sufficient analysis of alternatives that would avoid construction of a new dock and impacts on tribal fisheries.”