by Associated Press
Mon, January 28, 2019 at 9:23 AM
FILE - A coal train heads through Seattle between office buildings, condos and the downtown waterfront. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — Wyoming lawmakers are looking to sue Washington state over coal.
The Casper Star-Tribune reports lawmakers will try to set aside $250,000 to sue Washington, bypassing Wyoming's attorney general and hiring a private lawyer via a bill introduced by Rep. Chuck Gray, R-Casper, on Thursday.
Washington has effectively blocked a coal export terminal development by denying a state water permit. Wyoming — which wants an export terminal on the West Coast to get its coal to Asian buyers — has long maintained that Washington's block is political: that the powers that be in Washington don't like coal.
Gray and other state officials claim Washington's block of the port constitutes a violation of Wyoming's rights to sell its coal to Asia.