They are studying the Columbia Gorge traffic/Vancouver, WA terminal also.
They are studying the rail traffic everywhere in the State, the impacts of the coal dust, the CO2 and just about every other type of impact that you can imagine. They have added two years to the study time for the Cherry Point Terminal.
The Cherry Point Terminal is the largest that is being proposed and would impact the whole coast of WA. I don’t know what is going on with the Longview terminal. The statements that I read only pertained to the Gateway Pacific terminal at Cherry Point.
The State is very concerned with the increased oil train traffic that is already planned and when you add all the coal trains for the Cherry Pint facility, there is just not enough track. I think that part of what they are using as an excuse is that even though coal is on the federal hazardous substance list, the federal government does not have any regulations that cover it. So, the state is going to study it, all the way to China.
Gregoire was under a lot of pressure from Obama to push the approvals for the terminal through, but she didn’t get the reward that she was promised, the head of the EPA. She was passing on the pressure to all the state agencies and the fix was pretty much in. When she left office, Inslee was not getting much traction with his election effort until he came out in opposition to the coal terminals. Since then, he has backed off slightly in public statements, but evidently not in private.
I really think that the Cherry Point terminal is finished, unless they come up with another type of cargo. That means 18 fewer trains per day. That is good news for the whole state.