Victory! Army Corps Permit Required for NEXT Refinery’s Levee Impacts

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined that NEXT Renewable Fuels, Inc.’s current proposal to construct a diesel refinery at Port Westward requires another major federal permit. Represented by Advocates for the West, Columbia Riverkeeper and 1000 Friends of Oregon in 2024 sued the Army Corps for failing to require this permit, which would protect levee infrastructure from NEXT’s refinery construction. 

Construction for NEXT’s proposed refinery and rail yard would involve driving heavy equipment along a levee that protects the Port Westward area from the Columbia River. Locals and farmers have long raised concerns about the proposed refinery’s impacts on the system of levees and dikes that prevent flooding and provide irrigation. Degradation of the levee would put farmland, homes, and energy infrastructure at risk of flooding. 

“This is a major victory for the Columbia River Estuary and river communities,” said Audrey Leonard, Staff Attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper. “The Army Corps is right to require a full analysis of NEXT’s impacts on the levee, as the law requires.”

Under the Rivers and Harbors Act, the Army Corps must protect levees from damage by reviewing and issuing permits for activities that use, occupy, or alter levee infrastructure. In an April 2022 letter to NEXT, the Army Corps illegally determined that a permit was not required for the refinery. The lawsuit forced the Army Corps to reconsider its position. 

Unless NEXT substantially alters its proposal, NEXT will need to undergo a major federal permit process that triggers compliance with additional federal laws and requires coordination with Tribes and other agencies. NEXT also still needs two state stormwater permits and an Army Corps Clean Water Act Section 404 permit before it can begin refinery construction. 

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