The Army Corps of Engineers turned down the Gateway Pacific Terminal, a proposed coal export terminal at Cherry Point, near Bellingham, Washington. The Corps ruled the project would impact the treaty-protected fishing rights of the Lummi Nation.
Artist and Northern Cheyenne tribal member Alaina Buffalo Spirit said:
Today is a great day for Indian Country. The United States must take its treaties with Indian nations seriously, and today the Army corp honored its obligations to the Lummi Nation. I’m glad I got to witness in my lifetime the day the U.S. government honored Indian treaty rights over coal company profits.
Buffalo Spirit is a board member of Northern Plains Resource Council.
Gateway Pacific project
The Gateway terminal would have been the largest coal export facility in North America, shipping 53 million tons of coal from Montana and Wyoming annually to Asian markets. It would have meant 19 trains (125 coal hoppers) per day traveling through communities, resulting in the need for a billion dollars in infrastructure improvements to address traffic and public safety.
WORC recently released a report detailing the true costs of coal exports.
Army Corps Col. John Bucks noted in his decision:
“I have thoroughly reviewed thousands of pages of submittals from the Lummi Nation and Pacific International Holdings. I have also reviewed my staff’s determination that the Gateway Pacific Terminal would have a greater than de minimis impact on the Lummi Nation’s [usual and accustomed] rights, and I have determined the project is not permittable as currently proposed.”
The decision happened in the midst of a declining export market for coal. Montana mines cut back on exports through existing ports in 2015.
In January, Home on the Range became the temporary home for a totem pole crafted by Lummi carvers, a prayerful, spiritual offering in kindred spirit with the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Southeast Montana who have challenged coal mining on Otter Creek and a coal railroad for exports. It is temporarily housed on our campus, awaiting its permanent home on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.
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