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A railroad snakes through the Port of Morrow. The empty space to the right is where the Boardman part of the Morrow Pacific Project could be located.
credit:
Courtney Flatt
RICHLAND, Wash. – An Australian coal company has asked for more time to answer questions from the State of Oregon about its plans for a coal port in Boardman.
Ambre Energy hopes to move coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana to Asia through a facility at the Columbia River Port of Morrow in Boardman.
It needs a permit from the Oregon Department of State Lands to build a dock there. The state has asked the company additional questions about tribal fishing rights, water quality and the need to export coal.
In letters, the state suggested it would deny the project’s permit if more information was not provided. Now, Ambre has asked for a five-month extension to provide answers, though they feel sufficient information had been delivered previously.
Liz Fuller is the company’s spokeswoman. She said other dock permits were not scrutinized so thoroughly.
“We really want to be treated like any other commodity and like any other dock. And that’s, obviously, that’s really important to the project,” Fuller said.
Ambre Energy has aimed to be the first company in the Pacific Northwest to export coal to Asia, with the Morrow Pacific Project. Fuller says this delay will not slow the project’s timeline. The state says it will issue a decision on Sept. 1.
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EarthFix is a public media project of Oregon Public Broadcasting and Boise State Public Radio, Idaho Public Television, KCTS 9 Seattle, KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio, Northwest Public Radio and Television, Southern Oregon Public Television and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
