Californian Metropolitan Stevedoring Company, also known as Metro Ports, was left to decide whether to continue with Project Mainstay after the project’s two other key investors pulled out last month.
Metroports had signed a renewal of its exclusive negotiating agreement with the port on March 5, giving it until the end of the month to decide whether to continue.
The Port of Coos Bay released a statement announcing “a new phase” for the port, but did not specify whether that would include coal.
“Over the past year and a half, the port extended the exclusive negotiating agreement several times to allow Project Mainstay to pursue an evaluation of the current and potential capacity of the Coos Bay rail line, and projected terminal development costs,” the port said in a statement.
The agreement expired March 31 and will not be renewed.
“The port is moving on to the next phase,” CEO David Koch said.
“We will focus on pursuing a viable maritime development project that can capitalize on the Coos Bay harbor’s unique characteristics – developable land, an extremely short transit to Pacific trade routes and an experienced maritime labor force.”
The statement said internal discussions would begin about import/export cargo development opportunities that might bring forward to the port commission later this year.
Project Mainstay planned to develop a bulk export terminal to ship coal from Montana and Wyoming to Asia.
It is unclear why Mitsui withdrew but a KEPCO spokesman told the Associated Press that it was “not the right time” to pursue the project.
Coos Bay, one of five northwest ports interested in exporting coal to Asia, has received serious opposition from environmental groups who argue that burning coal in Asia is bad for global warming, and that coal dust from trains traveling to the port can have adverse health effects on local communities.
A 2012 feasibility study for the project estimated that exports through CoosBay could amount to 10 million metric tons by its fifth year in operation.
Other ports pursuing coal exports are Cherry Point and Longview in Washington, and St. Helens and Morrow in Oregon.
Last week the governors of Oregon and Washington sent a joint letter to the Obama administration, calling for a study of the climate change impacts of US coal exports to Asia.
