Community Over Containers

Community Over Containers

Tell Oregon Federal Representatives:

Fund resilience, not ship-to-rail!   

The Port of Coos Bay is proposing to spend at least $2.3 (with estimates of up to $4.8) billion for a risky ship-to-rail container terminal expansion project. If approved, the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port (PCIP) would have harmful environmental, economic, health, and safety impacts in communities from Coos Bay to Eugene and beyond. 

Why is the PCIP a risky project? 

  • An expensive proposed ship-to-rail project from Coos Bay to Eugene, marketed to tap into an unstable global shipping industry.

  • A boom-and-bust proposal that will not bring guaranteed, long-term employment to the region.

  • The container terminal would be built on Coos Bay’s North Spit, a delicate ecosystem, a high-risk tsunami zone, and popular recreation area.

  • Would dredge up to 32 million cubic yards (picture 7.5 Autzen Stadiums!) to widen and deepen the navigation channel, irreversibly altering critical marine habitat and shellfishing grounds.

  • Up to 12, 1.7-mile-long cargo trains per day would travel between Coos Bay and Eugene, increasing traffic, noise, and pollution through several vulnerable neighborhoods.

  • Developed in partnership with the Port of Coos Bay and NorthPoint Development, a firm that is also invested in growing harmful AI data centers across the country.

Learn more here 

Even during tight budget years like 2026, this project has been awarded both state and federal funding. In the last month, Senators Wyden, Merkley and Hoyle directed $11,250,000 in additional federal funding to the PCIP. Meanwhile, critical investments in the systems that keep Oregon communities healthy and safe have been underfunded - like rural transportation, schools, hospitals and climate resilience. How would you invest $2.3 billion to benefit our communities? By sharing your story and personal connection to this issue, you will give elected officials a better understanding of their constituents' needs and priorities. 

Use the email tips below to share your story with Oregon’s federal delegation -- what you think they should do with $2.3 billion dollars, instead of the risky PCIP? 

Examples: What could $2.3 billion do for Oregon to help our communities thrive? 

  • Invest in rural infrastructure including transportation, healthcare and affordable housing.  

  • Prepare communities for flooding, fire, and tsunamis. 

  • Create community resilience hubs to provide critical resources in the case of disaster. 

  • Grow Regenerative Economic Solutions:

    • Nature-based Tourism - In 2025, visitors spent $154.6 million s exploring communities surrounding the Coos Bay Estuary, supporting 2,100 jobs (more than the PCIP promises). Advertised as “Oregon’s Adventure Coast”, tourism heavily depends on kayaking, fishing, exploring the dunes, and more. Increased resources to expand services can increase employment opportunities that work with nature.

    • Mariculture/Aquaculture - Coos Bay is home to the largest tidal lands that can support oyster cultivation and provide opportunities to grow seaweed on a commercial level. These types of industries can provide employment while also keeping our estuary healthy.

    • Multi-generational Fishing Industry - Strengthen marinas for existing fleets and invest in the next generation of fisheries jobs. Cooperative structures such as Port Orford Sustainable Seafood, can serve as a model for improving the incoming work force needs in order to participate in new opportunities such as a zero-waste fishing industry.

Tell Oregon Federal Representatives:

Fund resilience, not ship-to-rail!   

The Port of Coos Bay is proposing to spend at least $2.3 (with estimates of up to $4.8) billion for a risky ship-to-rail container terminal expansion project. If approved, the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port (PCIP) would have harmful environmental, economic, health, and safety impacts in communities from Coos Bay to Eugene and beyond. 

Why is the PCIP a risky project? 

  • An expensive proposed ship-to-rail project from Coos Bay to Eugene, marketed to tap into an unstable global shipping industry.

  • A boom-and-bust proposal that will not bring guaranteed, long-term employment to the region.

  • The container terminal would be built on Coos Bay’s North Spit, a delicate ecosystem, a high-risk tsunami zone, and popular recreation area.

  • Would dredge up to 32 million cubic yards (picture 7.5 Autzen Stadiums!) to widen and deepen the navigation channel, irreversibly altering critical marine habitat and shellfishing grounds.

  • Up to 12, 1.7-mile-long cargo trains per day would travel between Coos Bay and Eugene, increasing traffic, noise, and pollution through several vulnerable neighborhoods.

  • Developed in partnership with the Port of Coos Bay and NorthPoint Development, a firm that is also invested in growing harmful AI data centers across the country.

Learn more here 

Even during tight budget years like 2026, this project has been awarded both state and federal funding. In the last month, Senators Wyden, Merkley and Hoyle directed $11,250,000 in additional federal funding to the PCIP. Meanwhile, critical investments in the systems that keep Oregon communities healthy and safe have been underfunded - like rural transportation, schools, hospitals and climate resilience. How would you invest $2.3 billion to benefit our communities? By sharing your story and personal connection to this issue, you will give elected officials a better understanding of their constituents' needs and priorities. 

Use the email tips below to share your story with Oregon’s federal delegation -- what you think they should do with $2.3 billion dollars, instead of the risky PCIP? 

Examples: What could $2.3 billion do for Oregon to help our communities thrive? 

  • Invest in rural infrastructure including transportation, healthcare and affordable housing.  

  • Prepare communities for flooding, fire, and tsunamis. 

  • Create community resilience hubs to provide critical resources in the case of disaster. 

  • Grow Regenerative Economic Solutions:

    • Nature-based Tourism - In 2025, visitors spent $154.6 million s exploring communities surrounding the Coos Bay Estuary, supporting 2,100 jobs (more than the PCIP promises). Advertised as “Oregon’s Adventure Coast”, tourism heavily depends on kayaking, fishing, exploring the dunes, and more. Increased resources to expand services can increase employment opportunities that work with nature.

    • Mariculture/Aquaculture - Coos Bay is home to the largest tidal lands that can support oyster cultivation and provide opportunities to grow seaweed on a commercial level. These types of industries can provide employment while also keeping our estuary healthy.

    • Multi-generational Fishing Industry - Strengthen marinas for existing fleets and invest in the next generation of fisheries jobs. Cooperative structures such as Port Orford Sustainable Seafood, can serve as a model for improving the incoming work force needs in order to participate in new opportunities such as a zero-waste fishing industry.

Stop the Port Expansion Project & Invest in a Thriving Oregon

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Email Tips +

Speak from the heart and your own experience! Below is an example email template you can adapt with your story. The more personal and unique your message, the more impactful it will be. 

Dear [ insert legislator name ] 

Thank you for your work representing Oregon on the federal level. I am writing in response to the $11.2 million grant that your delegation recently awarded the Pacific Coast Intermodal Project (PCIP). As a concerned Oregon resident, I urge you to stop directing federal funding towards false promises like the PCIP, and instead direct funds towards real initiatives that will help Oregon’s coastal communities thrive.

[ Share why this matters to you ] 

Some ideas to make it personal: 

  • As a long-time fisher (person), I know the impacts of this project will destroy my livelihood and that of many others in the community. 

  • As a retired marine biologist, I have made an entire career out of caring for Coos Bay’s marine life and I know this project will destroy the abundance that exists in the largest eelgrass beds on the west coast 

  • As a healthcare worker, it is concerning to see our federal delegation invest millions of dollars into a project with no solid job projections past the construction phase of the project when our hospital is in dire need of funding. 

  • In Eugene, my family is already impacted by air pollution. This project threatens to increase pollution through our neighborhood, while bringing little benefit to the people that live here.

 

Instead of funding the PCIP, this funding should go towards [add yours,examples below]

  • Improving public transportation, bike lanes, and crumbling infrastructure like bridges and roads on the South Coast. Everyone in our community deserves safe and accessible ways to get to work and school, or safely evacuate during emergencies.

  • Keeping our only hospital afloat, so that people in Coos Bay can access critical healthcare within our communities, and healthcare workers and other hospital-adjacent employees can retain employment here.

  • Investing in rural schools to support our future generations to live, work and stay in Coos Bay. 

  • Grow upon existing ocean-based economies through mariculture and aquaculture, building resilience for our economies and our environment.  

 

I am asking you to stand with South Coast communities and Oregonians across the state in opposing this boom-and-bust project and instead direct funding towards real long-term economic solutions that benefit communities and the environment. 

Sincerely, 

[ Name ]