Feds deciding if coal-export project violates tribal rights

SEATTLE — For centuries, Lummi tribal fishermen have harvested, dug up clams and fished for salmon in the tidelands and waters of northwest Washington state.

Now, the tribe says a proposed $700 million project to build the nation’s largest coal-export terminal threatens that way of life. The tribe last year asked federal regulators to deny permits for project, saying it would interfere with the tribe’s treaty-reserved fishing rights.

The Gateway Pacific Terminal, a venture between SSA Marine and Cloud Peak Energy, would handle up to 54 million metric tons of dry bulk commodities, mostly coal, at a deep water port at Cherry Point. Coal would be shipped by train from Montana and Wyoming for export to Asia.

If the Army Corps of Engineers, the federal agency overseeing the permitting process, finds that the proposed terminal would disrupt the tribe’s rights to fish in its traditional areas, it won’t issue permits. A decision is expected this week.

Like many tribes, the Lummi signed a treaty with the U.S. government in 1855 in which it ceded its land but reserved the right to hunt and fish in “usual and accustomed” areas.

“The Corps should honor the trust responsibility and deny the permit,” said Timothy Ballew, chairman of the coastal tribe, which has more than 5,000 members and one of the largest tribal fishing fleets in the country. “Our fishermen have fished there since time immemorial.”

Seattle-based SSA Marine says the Corps should find that project poses less than a minimal impact on the tribe’s fishing rights. The company contends that the most productive fishing for the tribe does not occur near the wharf. “They didn’t provide real evidence that they fish there a lot,” senior vice president Bob Watters said. The company also believes an environmental review that began in 2013 should be completed.

Earlier this month, however, project developers asked state and federal regulators to temporarily halt that environmental review while the Corps heard the Lummi’s request.

The terminal has become a lightning rod in the debate over whether the Pacific Northwest should become a gateway for exporting fossil fuels to Asia.

Environmental groups strongly oppose the proposal, worried about the greenhouse gases pollutants produced by burning coal and other issues such as increased train and vessel traffic. Meanwhile, some business and labor groups say it will create hundreds of jobs and generate tax revenue.

The Crow Nation of Montana, which has an option for ownership in the new terminal, backs the project as vital to its future. Lawmakers in Montana have led efforts to block the Corps from denying a permit until the environmental review is done.

If the federal agency denies the permit on the grounds of fishing rights, it wouldn’t be the first time.

“It’s fairly common,” said Robert Anderson, a University of Washington law professor who directs the school’s Native American Law Center. In 1996, the Corps denied a permit for salmon farm west of Lummi Island because it would interfere with tribe fishing rights. A federal court upheld that decision.

When federal agencies like the Corps issues permits, “they have an obligation to protect treaty resources. The Corps will have to take into account whether there will be an adverse effect on Indian treaty rights,” Anderson said.

The proposal would bring up to 487 vessels to a proposed three-berth wharf in an industrial zone about 100 miles north of Seattle. The company says the site presents a unique location, partly because it can accommodate the largest ships in naturally deep water.

The tribe says increased vessel traffic would disrupt fishing practices, as well as expose the region to potential oil spills, boat collisions, pollution and other problems.

Project developers say they would take measures to avoid or minimize impacts to tribal fishing, including setting up a system to let fisherman know about vessel positions and not allowing tug or tow operations due to tribal concerns about lost fishing gear.

The tribe says impacts can’t be mitigated and the terminal and activities would severely limit the ability of its tribal members to exercise their treaty rights.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.