Woodland Marine Terminal

ELS biologists prepared environmental permit-applications for a proposed commercial dock terminal in Cowlitz County for the offloading of calcium carbonate that will eliminate the need for extra barging and costly truck delivery from Portland. Applications included an expanded SEPA environmental checklist designed to avoid the lengthy Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process. In addition, the following documents were written by ELS: joint aquatic resource permit application, biological assessment, impact avoidance and alternatives analysis, mitigation plan, landscape plan, ordinary high water mark determination, shoreline substantial development permit, shoreline conditional use permit, and a wetland determination. ELS coordinated with multiple project team members throughout the project and assembled the application package for submittal to Cowlitz County, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Washington Department of Ecology, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. ELS biologists participated in a SEPA appeal hearing in November 2015, which resulted in the appeal being dismissed, and the SEPA determination being upheld. The project received both Shoreline Substantial and Conditional Use Permit approval from the Department of Ecology in January 2016.   Both permits were appealed to the Shorelines Hearings Board (SHB) of the State of Washington and the hearing held July 2016.  ELS biologists testified on multiple topics under cross examination, and both permits were upheld by the SHB and the appeal denied.  The project is currently working through the final stages of the permitting process with federal and state agencies.