Army Corps. won't do overall study of coal exports
Army Corps. won't do overall environmental study of coal exports through Western US
SEATTLE (AP) -- An official with the Army Corps of Engineers told a Congressional committee Tuesday it doesn't plan a broad environmental study on exporting coal from the Western United States.
Environmentalists and elected officials in Washington, Oregon and Montana have called on the federal government to look at the cumulative effects of shipping millions of tons of coal via train from Montana and Wyoming to ports on the West Coast.
They worry about increased pollution from coal dust, traffic congestion and climate change impacts from burning the fuel.
The agency previously decided to do more limited studies at two ports in Washington state: Gateway Pacific Terminal near Bellingham and Millennium Bulk Terminal at Longview. Federal officials have not decided whether to do a study on a terminal at Port of Morrow, Ore.
