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Morrow Coalport on hold - again

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Floyd McKay

Developers of the Coyote Island Terminal, a coal export facility on the Columbia River upstream of Portland, remain stuck in regulatory quicksand. Oregon’s Department of State Lands is delaying once again (until Aug. 18, at least) its decision on allowing the proposed terminal developers to build on submerged or submersible state-owned lands. This delay marks the seventh postponement in a process that began back in 2012, the same year facility developer Ambre Energy predicted the terminal would be operational in 2014.Some of the extensions were requested by Ambre and some by the state; the latest was mutually agreed upon because of the need for additional fisheries data. (The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also have permit authority.) If permitting goes forward, about 8 million tons of coal a year would arrive by rail at Port of Morrow, where it would be stored before being barged downstream to St. Helens, west of Portland, for transfer to ocean-going ships. Gov. John Kitzhaber had set May 31 deadline for a Coyote Island decision. — F.M.

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Floyd McKay

By Floyd McKay

Floyd J. McKay, professor of journalism emeritus at Western Washington University, was a print and broadcast journalist in Oregon for three decades. He is also a historian and his new book, "Reporting