A company that plans to ship Powder River Basin coal down the Columbia River has signed a letter of intent with Tidewater Barge Lines of Vancouver, Wash., for transportation service.

Tidewater would operate the tugs and barges needed to move the coal 218 miles from the Port of Morrow at Boardman, Ore., to a terminal at the Port of St. Helens at Clatskanie, Wash.

Ambre Energy has applied for permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, Oregon Department of State Lands and the Department of Environmental Quality.

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