Army Corps halts Gateway Pacific Terminal permitting process

Justice prevailed for the Lummi Nation, the Indigenous community who are closest to the place where Peabody Coal and SSA Marine wanted to put North America's largest new coal export terminal. This place is called Xwe'chi'eXen, also known as Cherry Point, in the state of Washington. After five years of grassroots opposition to this project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, one of the regulatory bodies with decision-making power, announced a decision to deny permits for the Gateway Pacific Terminals proposal at Cherry Point. This decision was made at the request of the Lummi Nation for the Army Corps to uphold the US Federal Government's treaty obligations to the Lummi Nation. This project's impacts would cause significant harm to their treaty protected fishing rights. The agency decision can be found here.

Crow Tribe and Cloud Peak Energy are joining SSA Marine

SSA Marine, the Crow Tribe of Indians and Cloud Peak Energy Inc. (NYSE: CLD) announced that the Crow Tribe and Cloud Peak Energy are joining SSA Marine as partners in the Gateway Pacific Terminal, located in the Northwest corner of Washington state.

Goldman Sachs sells coal terminal investment

Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners sold off its remaining equity investment in Carrix, the parent company of Pacific International Terminals and SSA Marine that are behind a colossal coal export terminal proposal near Bellingham, Washington. The move comes after coal companies and their proponents have tabled or dropped three out of six proposed coal export terminals in the Pacific Northwest in the last two years. Read more.

In the summer of 2013, Goldman Sachs’s research arm released a report titled “The Window for Thermal Coal Investment Is Closing,” forecasting that China’s demand for coal will peak within the next few years as the country’s growth rate slows and environmental regulations are increased. This means the high international coal prices that coal export proposals in the United States would be dependent on are extremely unlikely to materialize. With the bank’s own researchers casting doubt on the long-term viability of coal exports and the project facing sustained local opposition, Goldman Sachs may have wisely concluded that the time was right to get out of the business of coal exports.

Notification of state law violation

The Washington Department of Ecology notified Pacific International Terminals Inc. that it violated state law at the site of the proposed Gateway Pacific Terminal near Cherry Point in Whatcom County when it cleared land and built roads without a state stormwater permit for construction sites. Pacific international was directed to submit the required applications by Aug 15, 2011. The Department of Ecology is also currently investigating whether the work at the site violated wetland-protection requirements. Construction projects larger than one acre must have coverage under Ecology's Construction Stormwater General Permit. The road-building so far covers nine acres.

If SSA Marine's permits that were filed in February 2011 are approved by state and federal regulators, SSA Marine will next be required to obtain a lease from the Washington Department of Natural Resources.