Leading an anti-coal rally on Monday, Kennedy said the plan could have dire consequences if it went ahead.

“It’s going to end up leaving Portland with a legacy of pollution, poison and corruption,” the Associated Press quoted Kennedy as saying.

According to the news service, the proposals are favoured coal being transported to ports in Washington and Oregon before it is bound for China.

Environmentalists claimed the dust emitted from trains hauling coal would settle and pollute the proposed routes and Portland.

Kennedy, who is president of Waterkeeper Alliance environmental advocacy group, said the US could not hide from the adverse environmental impacts created by coal.

“Anybody who touches coal gets poisoned by it,” the AP quoted him as saying.

Kennedy’s stance against the proposal to bring coal into Oregan and Washington state remained strong as he declared the importance of not letting coal “come through this community”

“You don't just get sick, it poisons democracy, it poisons communities, it poisons values,” he said.

“Coal is crime.”

Millennium Bulk Terminals, a Columbia River port in Longview have reportedly applied for permits to make it one of the largest coal exports in North America.

While the proponents are claiming the move would create job opportunities, Kennedy said the number of jobs it would create would be slight.

“We’ve got lots of jobs here,” Kennedy reportedly said.

“If you were really interested in jobs, let's build wind farms, let's build solar plants.”

Millennium Bulk Terminals-Longview president Ken Miller dismissed Kennedy’s claims which played down the creation of jobs.

“Millennium is making a significant investment in our community and we are proud of our plan to create hundreds of jobs in Cowlitz County,” she said.