Were all five ocean ports and one river port built in Oregon
and Washington, an additional 160
million tons of coal a year could move through those two states. Most of that
would move by rail, although that amount includes about 9 million tons that
would move on the Columbia River in covered barges.
People in industries involved in developing the ports say
they do not expect all of them to be built or to handle that much coal, as the
market probably wouldn't support that amount.
The proposed ports are at Longview,
Cherry Port
and Grays Harbor, Wash.,
and Coos Bay
and the Port of St. Helens, Ore. The river port would be the Port
of Morrow at Boardman,
Ore.
The river proposal to haul 9 million tons annually involves
less coal than moves on either the Ohio
or Kanawha rivers in West Virginia.
For comparison, in the first half of this year, about 8.2 million tons of coal
moved through the Winfield Locks and Dam on the Kanawha
River. About 23.4 million tons
moved through the Robert C. Byrd Locks and Dam on the Ohio River
near Point Pleasant in the same time.
For another comparison, the Columbia River
barge proposal would average to about 750,000 tons of coal per month. One of
the busiest locks on the Columbia
is at Bonneville, and it handled a total of nearly 1.1 million tons of traffic
in August. Winfield handled a total of about 1.45 million tons, and Robert C.
Byrd handled about 4.26 million tons.
Most coal hauled on water on the Ohio
and Kanawha is in uncovered barges. The Columbia River
proposal specifies that all barges would be covered.
Railroads in the Northwest say carloads of coal would be
sprayed with a material to minimize losses due to dust.
Many communities, though, are also concerned about the
increase in rail traffic that coal shipments would bring.
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