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Wyoming hopes to participate in Oregon coal terminal case

World Coal,


The state of Wyoming continues to try to pressure Oregon to permit a coal terminal on the Columbia River that could allow export of coal to Asia.

Wyoming Governor, Matt Mead, announced the state has filed a petition with Oregon seeking to participate in a contested case hearing over the proposed Coyote Island Terminal. Oregon this summer rejected the proposal to build the terminal at Port of Morrow.

Oregon ruled building the terminal would threaten its water resources. It later rejected an appeal from Wyoming, ruling the state lacked standing.

In October, Wyoming officials claimed that the denial of the permit broke an interstate commerce clause.

“The department’s decision has harmed and degraded the state’s important and legally protectable revenue streams,” Wyoming’s appeal stated.

However, the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) said Wyoming did not have legal standing on the permit decision, because it failed to provide comments on the coal terminal proposal during the comment period.

“Wyoming has failed to establish that it is ‘aggrieved or adversely affected,’ as defined in (Oregon law), by the department’s denial of the applicant’s permit application,” the DSL said in its findings.

Wyoming is the nation's leading coal-producing state and is anxious to reach Asian markets as new federal air quality rules reduce demand from domestic coal-fired power plants. Mead claims Oregon is stifling interstate commerce by blocking the terminal.

Edited from various sources by Sam Dodson

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/handling/05122014/wyoming-hopes-to-influence-decision-on-oregon-coal-terminal-1647/

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