The Port of Vancouver approved plans Thursday to build a nearly $14 million-dollar terminal to ship coal from the Powder River Basin in Wyoming to Asian markets.
The decision came just days after state regulators in Oregon rejected a proposal for such a terminal amid opposition from fisherman and environmentalists.
Coal producers in the Powder River Basin have been looking to sell more coal to Asia, but these ambitions have been restricted by limited port capacity on the West Coast.
The port says the new terminal will handle 4 million metric tons of coal per year. Coal will be transported by rail to the new terminal—and eventually loaded on ships bound for South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and other Asian countries.
Operations at the terminal are scheduled to begin in fall of 2015.