Oregon Refinery Project Needs Federal Review, Lawsuit Says (1)

The US Army Corps of Engineers allowed a renewable diesel fuel refinery project in Oregon to bypass federal review despite its environmental risks, conservation groups claimed in a lawsuit.

NXTClean Fuels’ refinery would have “serious adverse environmental effects on the surrounding area and the Columbia River,” Columbia Riverkeeper and 1000 Friends of Oregon told the US District Court for the District of Oregon on Thursday.

The groups claimed the project would require destroying about 120 acres of wetlands and increase barge traffic in the Columbia River Estuary, harming vulnerable salmon and steelhead trout species. They also said the project would ...