The terminal’s approval was given on several conditions – one being that it would have to be shut down and appropriate agencies notified if a water-quality problem led to dead or distressed fish.

The state Department of Environmental Quality issued a water quality certification on Tuesday to the terminal at Boardman, whereby it would receive train-transported coal from Montana and Wyoming for placement on barges which would be offloaded at another terminal and the coal put on Asia-bound oceangoing vessels.

The project is still on tenterhooks as an appeal hearing is scheduled for December after the state land department rejected a permit for the project, saying it could interfere with tribal fishing rights.

Low coal prices have also led critics to question the $US242 million ($A318.21 million) project’s ability to break even, especially considering Ambre sold its North American coal assets to Denver private equity firm Resource Capital Funds last year after failing to draw other investors.

The government is heavily backing its coal export industry, with the state of Wyoming prepared to borrow $1 billion to pay for coal exports from the Northwest; while Wyoming and Montana are backing the appeal of the aforementioned Oregon Department of State Lands’ decision.

The project has already spelled out its own environmental considerations, in that all facilities will be enclosed, barges will be covered and all operations will be designed to eliminate dust and spillage.

It is expected to create over 2100 temporary construction related jobs and over 1000 ongoing operations-related jobs.

Owner Ambre Energy will be $850,000 in annual port fees to the Port of Morrow and the same amount to the Port of St Helens, based on the initial amount of 3.5 million tonnes.