Ambre Energy Asks For Deadline Extension For Port of Morrow Coal Export Terminal. Company’s Letters to Dept. of State Lands Confirm Refusal to Disclose Full Impacts
Salem, OR In a letter sent yesterday to the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL), Ambre Energy requested an additional permit deadline extension for its controversial proposed Coyote Island coal terminal on the Columbia River in Oregon. Yesterday’s request follows Ambre’s March 1st letter to the Dept. of State Lands, balking the state agency’s request for more information about the potential impacts of the coal terminal and greater consultation with impacted parties. Ambre’s proposed terminal poses significant risks, including increased coal train traffic, damage to the shoreline and wetlands with the construction of a dock, threatened fishing grounds, and a near doubling of barge traffic in the Columbia River Gorge.
"It's good to see that Ambre Energy is being forced to disclose the impacts of coal export, but telling that Ambre once again tries to hide their problems,” said Brett VandenHeuvel with Columbia Riverkeeper. “In the words of The Who: we won't get fooled again."
VandenHeuvel is referring to Ambre Energy’s other proposed coal export project in Longview, WA. In 2011, a legal challenge exposed internal documents that Ambre and their US subsidiary Millennium Bulk Logistics lied to Cowlitz County and state officials about the size of their project, claiming five million tons per year when they planned a project more than 10 times that size. Following the controversy, Ambre withdrew its permit and in 2012 filed a permit for a terminal that would handle 44 million tons of coal/year. Recent analysis of Ambre's financial health shows a deeply troubled company with mounting financial, regulatory, and political challenges.
Yesterday over 450 Oregonians gathered outside the state capitol in Salem to call on Gov. Kitzhaber to reject the proposed terminals in Oregon – including Ambre’s proposed terminal on the Columbia River. A diverse set of speakers, including doctors, fishermen, elected officials, business owners, and faith leaders, spoke out against coal export.
“As we add up the impacts from these proposed terminals, it’s clear the costs are far too high. We need the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Morrow Pacific project and an area-wide review of the five proposed terminals in the Northwest to know the full impacts of coal export in Oregon and Washington,” concluded VandenHeuvel.
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POWER PAST COAL is an ever-growing alliance of health, environmental, businesses, clean-energy, faith and community groups working to stop coal export off the West Coast. Visit www.powerpastcoal.org.
News Roundup:
Scott Learn, The Oregonian, 3/14/13
Ambre Energy, the company trying to be first to export coal through the Northwest to Asia, has reluctantly agreed to a five-month delay of a decision on its Oregon permit.
The new deadline, bumped from April 1 to Sept. 1, came after Ambre concluded that Oregon's Department of State Lands was "inclined to deny our permit," the company said in a Wednesday letter to DSL, which wants more details from Ambre before proceeding. It's the second delay since the permit was filed 13 months ago.
Courtney Flatt, OPB EarthFix. 3/14/13
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.
