The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted an environmental approval last month to a project to dredge a 1,000-foot-wide deep water ship turn around in the Columbia River near the Port of Kalama and expand Longview’s existing turning basin.
The environmental approval came despite the agency’s environmental review finding it would harm endangered salmon species. The greenlight leaves the longtime effort with just two more steps: Secure approval from Congress, then win construction funding from them.
The project is aimed at allowing the next generation of gigantic grain and bulk cargo ships to better use the two ports, and to reduce congestion on the federally-designated marine highway. Bulk export operations depend on a massive scale of exports, terminals and ships to remain profitable…