The Environmental Protection Agency wants a thorough review of the consequences of coal export through Northwest ports, saying the first project in the pipeline — at Oregon’s Port of Morrow — “has the potential to significantly impact human health and the environment.”
It’s not a full victory for environmentalists and tribes near the Columbia River. EPA stopped short of recommending that the Army Corps of Engineers conduct a wholesale analysis of all six potential projects to export Montana and Wyoming coal to Asia through Oregon and Washington.
But it gives environmental groups more ammunition in the high-profile dispute, which could well end up in court.