Oregonians can be certain that their public money won’t be wasted on a dirty coal dock. A zombie funding application for dock improvements at Port Westward near Clatskanie was dealt its final blow after the Oregon Transportation Commission rejected the application. The first coal dock funding denial came last August but political and industry pressure forced the project back on the table. On March 19, 2015, commissioners voted 3-1 to deny public funding for coal export.
Here’s how Columbia Riverkeeper, the Power Past Coal coalition and dedicated Oregonians joined together to kill a zombie application for a dirty coal dock:
- June 9, 2014: Columbia Riverkeeper learned of a transportation funding program that connects Oregonian’s lottery dollars with critical transportation improvements across the state. The Port of St. Helens and Ambre Energy’s subsidiary, Pacific Transloading, applied for a Connect Oregon transportation subsidy to build their coal dock at Port Westward.
- June 10, 2014: Miles Johnson, Columbia Riverkeeper’s Clean Water Attorney, dug into the coal dock subsidy application and wrote an excellent memo and letter to the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) outlining our concerns with the application.
- June 19, 2014: Road trip! Columbia County residents Annie Christensen and Darrel Whipple joined me for a very last minute road trip to Bend where we each provided three minutes of public testimony that raised the red flag of coal export to the OTC. The OTC meets monthly throughout the state and June just happened to be in Bend.
- July 17, 2014: The first official public hearing on Connect Oregon was packed with opponents to coal export and lasted seven hours. The OTC listened attentively the entire time. Columbia Riverkeeper and the Power Past Coal coalition submitted lengthy comments to the OTC in writing outlining their authority to reject the coal dock application.
- August 22, 2014: Decision day round one. Final approval of Connect Oregon funding was slated for the August OTC meeting in Ontario, Oregon. Too far of a distance to travel, I listened to the whole meeting via speakerphone while taking care of my dad who was at home recovering from foot surgery. The Port Westward coal dock subsidy was denied! Victory…
- Fall 2014: It was becoming clear that despite a 3-2 victory at the August OTC meeting, the coal dock application was turning into a zombie. Political and industry pressure was intensifying to reverse the decision to deny public funds for the coal dock at Port Westward.
- January 7, 2015 Connect Oregon review committee reconvenes to create a new recommendation to the OTC to re-allocate the remaining Connect Oregon funds. Coal supporters and industry occupy many seats on the review committee so it wasn’t a surprise (though it was disappointing) that the coal dock was ranked No. 1 for OTC approval.
- January 9, 2015: Former Governor Kitzhaber fires the OTC chairwoman Catherine Mater for her vocal opposition to the flawed Port Westward coal dock application re-consideration.
- January 15, 2015: A second public hearing on the recommended Connect Oregon applications is held by the OTC. With the coal dock back at No. 1 Columbia Riverkeeper, the Power Past Coal coalition and Oregonians from across the state flock, once again, to Salem to testify against state funding subsiding coal export. (I’m happily on vacation in Thailand during this hearing and the weeks leading up to it. Dan Serres, Riverkeeper’s Conservation Director, steps in and gets hearing information out far and wide to ensure a huge citizen turnout).
- March 19, 2014: Decision day round two. Despite the official record for the coal dock application closing more than a month ago, 35 citizens pack the OTC meeting in Salem to bear witness to the vote to approve or deny (again) funding for the coal dock at Port Westward. The room is at capacity and mostly full of folks in our campaign’s signature red shirts. I sit at the front of the room anxiously awaiting the vote’s roll call. I have four different versions of a press release prepared. Former OTC chair Catherine Mater is in the room. Her vacancy hasn’t been filled. After over 30 minutes of deliberations by the OTC a vote is called on a motion put forth by Commissioner Dave Lohman to fund projects 2-7 (the coal dock is No 1). IT PASSES 3-1!!!! The audience erupts in applause. The commissioners acknowledge our response and we file out into the lobby to congratulate one another for traveling so far, so many times, to ensure that this zombie coal dock isn’t resurrected.
A very special thanks is owed to the folks of Columbia County who showed up to every hearing, wrote countless letters to the editors, made signs, brought friends to hearings, and kept up the pressure on the Port of St. Helens and the Oregon Transportation Commission until this zombie coal dock was finally dead. Thank you.
