Washington Denies Permits For Coal Exporter

By Kenneth White

Utah-based Lighthouse Resources along with six Western states have filed an amicus brief following a suit brought against Washington State in January alleging that officials violated federal laws in denying approvals for its $680 million export terminal named “Millennium Bulk Terminals – Longview Project”. Lighthouse Resources accuses the governor of being anti-coal and discriminating against it by blocking the movement of coal mined in other states from being exported.

The Washington Department of Ecology denied the project a water-quality permit last fall, saying there were too many major harmful effects including air pollution, rail safety and vehicle traffic.

Last year, a separate project to build a coal-export terminal at Cherry Point, in Whatcom County, was denied a federal Army Corps of Engineers permit, a decision based on protection of tribal treaty fishing rights.

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