Tagged: Coal

Environmental groups filed a lawsuit Wednesday in U.S. district court against BNSF Railway and several coal companies. The groups say that the rail and coal companies are violating the Clean Water Act by allowing coal to escape from trains that travel through the region.

The number of coal export terminals proposed for Oregon and Washington has dropped from six to three. But a dozen Northwest groups aren’t backing down from their call for a regional impact study of the coal projects.

The groups filed a legal petition Wednesday with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They want the corps to study the environmental impacts of transporting coal by train and barge from mines in Montana and Wyoming to shipping terminals.

The number of coal export terminals under consideration in the Northwest has dropped to three, that’s from a high of six last year.

A coalition of tribal leaders and politicians gathered at Golden Gardens in Seattle to Monday to announce the formation of a new group that opposes coal exports in the Northwest.