SEATTLE — A coal-export terminal proposed in Washington would increase cancer risk for some residents, add 2 million metric tons of global greenhouse gas emissions a year and increase the risk of rail accidents, according to an environmental study released Friday.
Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview wants to build the facility along the Columbia River near Longview to handle up to 44 million tons of coal a year. Coal would arrive by train from Montana, Wyoming and other states to be stored and loaded on ships heading to energy-hungry markets in Asia.
The yearslong fight over the deep-water port comes as President Donald Trump, who vowed to revive the struggling coal industry, has lifted restrictions on mining coal and drilling for oil and natural gas.
Environmentalists and others have fiercely opposed the project over concerns about global warming, coal dust pollution and potential damage to fisheries on the Columbia River.