The Washington State Department of Ecology and officials for Cowlitz County, where the complex will be located, opened the floor for comments on the DEIS on April 29.
Deadline for input is June 13; in the meantime, public meetings are set for Longview on May 24; May 26 in Spokane; and June 2 in Pasco. All meetings begin at 1 p.m. local time.
“This major milestone moves us one step closer to creating family-wage jobs in Longview, while meeting Washington’s strict environmental standards,” CEO Bill Chapman said, noting that the facility could create 2,650 direct and indirect jobs. “We will build this project right and honor the longstanding support we have earned from labor and the Longview community.”
Millennium Bulk, which at peak operation will have the capacity to ship 44 million tons of coal annually from mines in Montana, Wyoming and Utah to overseas markets, would become the nation’s largest coal terminal should it come to fruition.
The complex has been in planning since 2010, and has met significant opposition along the way. Permits for Millennium-Longview were filed in 2012.
The full DEIS can be viewed here.
