“By issuing these three permits after a rigorous process, the Department of Environmental Quality has affirmed that the project complies with environmental rules and regulations of the state of Oregon,” said Clark Moseley, CEO, Morrow Pacific project.

The project is currently seeking permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Oregon Department of State Lands, and is projected to be operational by the beginning of 2015. The Corps has indicated that a permitting decision will be forthcoming in the spring of 2014.

The Morrow Pacific project will ship low-sulfur coal by rail from western U.S. coal mines to the Port of Morrow. There it will be transferred to an enclosed storage facility and loaded onto covered barges through an enclosed conveyor. The coal will then be shipped down the Columbia River to Port of St. Helens’ Port Westward Industrial Park. There, enclosed transloaders will transfer the coal onto covered oceangoing Panamax ships.