NEXT Refinery and Railyard

May 30, 2024 — Advocates for the West filed suit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for determining that a Rivers and Harbors Act Section 14 permit was not required for NEXT Renewable Fuels’ proposed refinery and rail yard at Port Westward near Clatskanie, Oregon. Construction for NEXT’s proposed refinery and rail yard would involve driving heavy equipment along a road atop a levee that protects the Port Westward area from the Columbia River. Degradation of the levee would put farmland, homes, and energy infrastructure at risk of flooding.

Locals and farmers in the area have long raised concerns about the proposed refinery’s impacts on the system of levees. Even NEXT admits that further studies are necessary to determine how much weight the road and levee can safely withstand. In an April 2022 letter to NEXT, the Army Corps illegally determined that although the project will “utilize the levee as a haul road,” a permit is not required. Advocates for the West and our client-partners challenge this determination in the lawsuit.

Under the Rivers and Harbors Act, the Army Corps is responsible for protecting levees from damage, by issuing permits for activities that use, occupy, or alter the infrastructure. Construction of NEXT’s proposed refinery at Port Westward “uses” the levee and therefore requires a permit.