Any serious comparison of the proposed Northwest coal ports would have shown early on that Coos Bay was dead on arrival. Port of Morrow at Boardman, OR, is currently leading the pack of likely contenders. It has received favorable nods from a handful of state officials and media outlets, and some environmental groups have even agreed that it would be the least objectionable of the ports. In September, the Army Corps of Engineers recommended PofM be "fast-tracked" for environmental review, and two companies have been signed on for construction of the barges. Might seem outlandish to transfer coal into barges so far up the Columbia, but grain and other bulk cargoes originating in the Inland Northwest have been shipping to sea this way, successfully, for many years. And barging coal down the Columbia alleviates many of the protest points (coal dust, traffic congestion, noise) that folks have voiced in the urban areas of western WA and OR.