TAKE ACTION Coal piled eight stories high on the banks of the Columbia River is a disaster waiting to happen, but we can stop it.

Coal piled eight stories high on the banks of the Columbia River is a disaster waiting to happen, but we can stop it. Tell Cowlitz County and the Washington Department of Ecology to reject the shoreline permit for Millennium Bulk Logistics.

Northwesterners could face higher cancer rates, increased risk of rail accidents and air heavy with coal dust—all due to coal trains barreling through neighborhoods and along the shore of the Columbia River, carrying coal that will produce 2 million tons of global greenhouse gas emissions.
That is, if Cowlitz County and the Washington Department of Ecology allow the largest coal export terminal in the United States to be built in Longview, Washington.

For more than seven years, people like you across the Northwest—conservation groups, Tribes, Earthjustice’s legal team and concerned individuals—have pushed back against this massive project. With another permit application in the works, now is the time to tell Cowlitz County and Ecology to deny the permit for Millennium Bulk Logistics. This coal terminal was never a good idea, and it never will be.

Coal trains already harm our communities. One recently derailed in Montana, dumping 30 rail cars of dirty coal into the Clark Fork River, a tributary to the Columbia. Although over a month has passed, the coal is still there, settling down into the water and smoldering—on fire—on the river’s banks.

It’s a burning reminder that our clean air, clean water and public health are at risk when we transport tons of uncovered piles of dirty coal along environmentally sensitive water bodies.

There’s no good reason to invest in this climate-bomb coal terminal; we have better, cleaner options for powering our homes and communities. The terminal would increase national coal exports by 40 percent, when for years the coal industry has been in decline. Instead, we need our leaders to invest in clean energy jobs, positioning Washingtonians and Oregonians to lead and prosper in our clean energy future.

Coal piled eight stories high on the banks of the Columbia River is a disaster waiting to happen, but we can stop it.

Tell Cowlitz County and the Washington Department of Ecology to listen to the abundance of substantive critical comments from Tribes, state and federal agencies, elected leaders, health professionals and residents of the region, and reject the shoreline permit for Millennium Bulk Logistics.

- Earth Justice

Your personalized message will be added along with the following letter:

Reject the Shoreline Substantial Development and Conditional Use Permit for Millennium Bulk Terminals

Dear Senior Environmental Planner Ron Melin,

I urge Cowlitz County and the Department of Ecology to reject the Shoreline Substantial Development and Conditional Use Permit for Millennium Bulk Terminals. If built, Millennium would be the largest coal export terminal in the nation. I am certain that exporting coal does not protect local, state or national interests, and fails to meet the basic criteria for these permits.

Millennium's environmental review found that cancer rates, rail congestion and harm from climate change would increase if the 44 million-ton-per-year facility is built. These permits must be denied; they are clearly not in the public interest.

We cannot trade our clean air and water for the sake of exporting coal. Coal is a dying industry; we should instead invest in innovation and clean energy that will benefit our entire region in the long term.

I urge Cowlitz County and the Department of Ecology to review the abundance of substantive critical comments from Tribes, state and federal agencies, elected leaders, health professionals and residents of the region, and reject the Shoreline Substantial Development and Conditional Use Permit for Millennium Bulk Terminals.