County action may favor coal port

Oct 3 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Greg Bolt The Register-Guard, Eugene, Ore.

Lane County commissioners are considering whether to throw their support behind an effort to establish a new bulk cargo terminal in Coos Bay that would handle coal shipped by rail through Eugene.

The commissioners will discuss a proposed resolution supporting the Coos Bay project at their meeting today. The draft resolution acknowledges the controversy over possible health and environmental effects of coal but comes down on the side of the economic development benefits for Coos and Lane counties.

Commissioners could vote to approve the resolution, table it or hold further discussions on the matter.

Commissioner Sid Leiken, the president of the county board, said he's been looking into the issue for the past several months after a Port of Coos Bay official asked whether the board would support the project. He said he understands the concerns raised by people who oppose shipping coal from Wyoming to West Coast ports but has tried to take a broad view of the proposal.

He said the question goes beyond coal, as the Coos Bay facility also would be able to handle wood chips and other bulk commodities, and said the economic benefits would be substantial.

"You can talk about coal, and there's going to be all those issues, but I'm more interested in looking at the big picture of this as well," Leiken said.

But the discussion is likely to spark the same kind of controversy that already is swirling around various plans to ship coal to the West Coast, where it would be loaded on freighters and shipped to Asia to be burned for electricity. Opponents charge that coal is a dirty fuel that contributes to global warming and that dust from the 130-car trains would cause health problems for people in communities all along the route.

Environmental groups are mounting a strong challenge to the coal plans, and a number of state and local officials have come out in opposition.

Gov. John Kitzhaber has called on the federal government to do a wide-ranging environmental impact study on the idea before taking action on any plan to ship coal through Northwest ports.

The Eugene City Council, which has been considering a resolution opposed to the coal trains, will take up the issue again Monday but is not expected to take a formal vote on the matter until a later meeting.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers currently is reviewing applications for three coal export terminal projects, near Boardman in Oregon and in Longview and Bellingham in Washington.

Also under consideration are port projects near Astoria and the one in Coos Bay.

The Coos Bay facility would receive coal shipped through the Columbia Gorge, down the Willamette Valley and to the coast over the rail link between Eugene and Coos Bay, which the port purchased in 2009.

Supporters of coal exports include labor and business groups and a number of local and state government officials from counties and towns along the train route. U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio has said he supports construction of the bulk cargo terminal in Coos Bay.

Leiken said that he thinks the issue is one the county should discuss. He said the concerns about coal need to be weighed against the hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in spending the port facility would generate.

He said he believes some of the potential dangers of coal have been overstated.

"I think people are raising the red flag on coal way too soon," he said.

Commissioner Jay Bozievich agreed. He believes that worries about coal dust from passing freight trains will be alleviated by new rail car designs now being prepared, that trains are the least-polluting way to ship freight, and that the trains will cause little inconvenience when they pass through Eugene four times a day.

"I think a lot of the concerns have been hyped while the benefits have been greatly ignored," Bozievich said. "There's so much misinformation out there. I think the economic impact and what it will do for the coastal economy is much more important."

Leiken, Bozievich and Commissioner Faye Stewart are seen as the county board's conservative majority and generally lean toward more pro-business positions. Commissioners Pete Sorenson and Rob Handy, who will be replaced by Eugene city councilor Pat Farr in January, are the board's liberals.

Sorenson said he has no problem with the board discussing the issue but said people need to be given more time to make comments. He said the board should hold a work session and a public hearing on the issue, and would vote against making a final decision now.

"I think we need a lot more notice to the public on items of this significance," he said. "We ought to have a full and fair opportunity to ask questions about this resolution, its origin, who wants it."

The resolution is part of the county board's discussion of its legislative priorities for the coming year, which focus on ways to increase revenue or decrease expenses to prevent further cuts in basic services.

Years of declining timber revenues and flat property taxes have forced deep cuts in county spending, slashing services such as public safety.

Leiken said staff cuts also have slowed the posting of information to the county's website, among other functions. That's why information on the proposed resolution didn't show up on the commissioners' agenda until Tuesday, he said.

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING:

When/where: 9 a.m. today, Commissioners Conference Room, Lane County Public Service Bldg., 125 E. Eighth Ave.