For decades, it seemed like Oregon鈥檚 south coast city of Coos Bay couldn鈥檛 catch a break 鈥� at least not economically.
The timber industry mostly fled, taking hundreds if not thousands of jobs with it. Fishing and tourism continue to be vital to the area鈥檚 financial health, but no economic driver of the same caliber as timber has emerged. Meanwhile, projects 鈥� such as a controversial liquefied natural gas export terminal 鈥� have been proposed and then thwarted.
鈥淚 absolutely love this place,鈥� Melissa Cribbins, an attorney and former county commissioner born and raised in Coos Bay, told OPB. 鈥淚 love the idea that more economic development helps the citizens here and gives us an opportunity to show the rest of the world what we know about it 鈥� which is this is an amazing place, with terrific natural resources, a great place to live, a great place to raise a family, and there鈥檚 so many people that would like to be here.
鈥淏ut they just need a job.鈥�
That鈥檚 why, a few months ago, Cribbins signed on to head a project she and others hope will bring 2,500 permanent jobs and 2,500 temporary construction jobs to the area: the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port, or PCIP, project.
It鈥檚 a wonky name for a $2.3 billion project that would create a massive deep-water terminal where large cargo ships drop off 20 to 40-foot-long shipping containers full of goods from across the Pacific Ocean. The only other is more than 200 miles away in Portland.
In Coos Bay, the overseas goods would then travel by rail to cities like Eugene, and onward to stores or other parts of the country. Meanwhile, containers full of lentils, hay, animal feed, wood products and other Oregon agricultural goods would be loaded from rail cars onto the large cargo ships headed for other countries. While the project still has a ways to go, it won $29 million in federal funding last week for planning upgrades to the railroad. That money is on top of award for planning work on the channel.
And beyond the potential jobs the terminal would bring, proponents hope it can usher in a wave of investment and development to grow economic opportunities for the in Coos County.
鈥淭he thing that people often miss about economic development, they might think, 鈥榳ell, I鈥檓 retired, I don鈥檛 need a job,鈥欌�� Cribbins said. 鈥淏ut what they don鈥檛 realize is there鈥檚 so much incidental business that comes from having something like this Port facility.鈥�
Cribbins said if the shipping container terminal comes to fruition, it could also create close to 7,000 indirect jobs.
How the Port of Coos Bay decided on shipping containers
The area was a bustling timber shipping hub in the mid-1980s, with hundreds of cargo ships visiting each year, according to Mike Dunning, the Chief Operating Officer at the Port of Coos Bay.
鈥淎t the height of the timber industry, there were about 350 vessel calls in Coos Bay, deep draft vessels,鈥� Dunning, who joined Port staff 12 years ago after two decades with the U.S. Coast Guard, told OPB. 鈥淭oday we see about 60, maybe 70 on average every year. And again, that鈥檚 from the decline of the timber industry 鈥� this community suffered greatly when that happened, and we鈥檝e got to bring something here to change that and bring those jobs back into the community.鈥�
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, a Canadian oil and gas transport company had wanted to build an export terminal for liquefied natural gas. The terminal would have been in a similar location as the proposed shipping container terminal.
The project, known as Jordan Cove, also included building a more than 200-mile pipeline to transport gas to the terminal, where it would be cooled to liquid and then loaded onto ships headed overseas.
But winning support, funding and permits for the Jordan Cove project was an uphill battle from the beginning. The project also faced steep opposition from potentially affected landowners and from environmental advocates, and it was .
鈥淲e were at about 90% design just before COVID, in 2019, when that project pulled out and went away,鈥� Dunning said. 鈥淪hortly after that, NorthPoint Development came forward with the idea of putting a container facility on the north spit.鈥�
NorthPoint Development would be responsible for running the shipping container terminal, while the Port remains the land and rail owner. As proposed, the terminal could serve around 300 ships per year.
The many hurdles
Dunning is confident the area can handle the increase in cargo ship activity because of the hundreds of ships that used to flock to the area each year for timber. But cargo ships are larger than they were in the 鈥�80s, and the channel from the Pacific Ocean to Coos Bay鈥檚 terminal needs deepening 鈥� an expensive, lengthy and environmentally fraught undertaking.
The shipping container terminal may not face the same fierce opposition as the liquefied natural gas export terminal 鈥� but there is still resistance. Environmental advocates in Oregon have long opposed the act of dredging, needed to deepen the channel, while some in the commercial or recreational fishing industry could raise concerns about the impact on the ocean ecosystem as the project moves forward.
A granted land-use exceptions to the Port of Coos Bay. It was opposed by various conservation and environmental groups, dozens of which testified against the bill saying proposed projects should go through the regular land-use permitting process.
鈥淒redging the bay beyond the current channel will presumably result in the destruction of eelgrass beds, mudflats, and marshes, perhaps destroying habitat for salmon and Dungeness crabs, the staples of the local fishing industry, and other species of interest, including some that are listed under the Endangered Species Act,鈥� wrote members of the in its testimony against the bill.
State lawmakers ultimately approved the legislation, creating an easier path for the Port in terms of winning state approval. But as the project progresses, Dunning said they will have to work with multiple federal agencies to get the appropriate permits to ensure the project鈥檚 environmental safety.
And two major hurdles remain: securing the rest of the funding needed, and getting the green light from all involved agencies.
Money, money, money
To start the channel deepening design, engineering and permitting, Dunning said the Port has been using $60 million nearly two decades ago for a since-canceled proposal.
Dunning said the work done on previous proposals helped the Port complete around 90% of the needed environmental reviews for the first leg of the terminal鈥檚 development.
But to continue the estimated $2.3 billion project, the Port needs a healthy-sized investment. Leaders are looking for that funding mostly in the form of federal grants 鈥� and so far it鈥檚 been a mixed bag.
In 2023, the project did not get the $900 million the Port applied for with the U.S. Department of Transportation. However, the terminal has gotten smaller nods of approval from the federal government. The Port was that it will use to continue the needed environmental reviews and obtain permits from the DOT鈥檚 grant program. And on Friday, the DOT followed up with a $29 million award for planning upgrades to the Port鈥檚 rail line.
According to Dunning, the project has three components that need to go through the engineering, design and permitting process: the widening of the channel in Coos Bay, building the terminal and rail yard on the dock, and upgrading the more than 100-mile rail corridor from Coos Bay to Eugene.
That planning process is nearly finished for the channel deepening, he said.
鈥淪o there鈥檚 not a lot of funding needed for that,鈥� Dunning said. 鈥淏ut for the other two legs, there鈥檚 a lot of work that鈥檚 got to be done.鈥�
The challenges facing economic development efforts on the South Coast
The project at the Port is ambitious: it鈥檚 expensive, involves multiple state and federal agencies, and will take years to construct. The payoff could be huge 鈥� but many community members aren鈥檛 waiting for a major economic jumpstart. Instead, parts of Coos Bay have been leaning into tourism, fishing and the area鈥檚 culture and history when looking at ways to develop.
The Coquille Tribe owns and operates a number of businesses in the area. That includes the Mill Casino, where the tribe is that could create 30 permanent jobs, according to Margaret Simpson, CEO of the Coquille Economic Development Corporation.
Simpson keeps her focus on tribal projects and said she hasn鈥檛 heard a lot of community responses to the proposed shipping container terminal. But she鈥檚 following it because if the project comes to fruition it would affect Coquille businesses and tribal members.
鈥淲e need to be prepared for it,鈥� Simpson said. 鈥淲hether that鈥檚 going to be an influx of people that are coming in to work 鈥� and what we鈥檙e going to do with a situation that might further compromise our limited housing in the community and how that might affect our team members 鈥� or if we鈥檙e going to have additional guests and volume that we鈥檒l be servicing and catering to, we鈥檝e been watching it.鈥�
Developer Greg Drobot says the limited amount of housing is a complicated barrier to growth in Coos Bay.
鈥淓very business owner I talk to, the hospitals and clinics and even retail, they said 鈥榳e鈥檇 hire more people, but there鈥檚 nowhere for them to live,鈥欌�� Drobot, who is also the founder of Bandon-based Face Rock Creamery, said. 鈥淗aving that lack of housing, it鈥檚 a huge headwind for future economic development. But then the problem is, it鈥檚 still a lower income area.鈥�
Drobot spearheaded a number of development projects in the area, including a mixed-use retail, dining and recreation area along the waterfront. The next project he鈥檚 planning is a housing subdivision as a way to alleviate the housing crunch.
Regarding the Port鈥檚 shipping container terminal, Drobot鈥檚 cautiously optimistic. It鈥檚 still a big project that relies on funding the community has little control over, he said, making it hard to get too excited about.
But if the Port project does come through, he said it would 鈥渢urbocharge鈥� the work he鈥檚 doing.
鈥淚鈥檓 not relying on any of that for anything that I鈥檓 working on,鈥� Drobot said. 鈥淏ut it would be massive. I mean, there are thousands of jobs potentially coming to the area 鈥� and good paying jobs. And I think we鈥檙e starting to get the infrastructure in place to support something like that.鈥�
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of land-use exceptions granted by Oregon House Bill 3382. OPB regrets the error.
This story comes from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
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