It’s smooth sailing again for the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay and its proposal to dig a berth on the North Spit for liquefied natural gas tankers.

At least for now.

The Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals on Friday denied an appeal by opponents, challenging Coos County’s approval of the permit. They contended the port’s application process to excavate the 1,000-foot-wide by 1,200-foot-long docking area didn’t meet state land use requirements or the Coos Bay Estuary Management Plan.

LUBA disagreed on all points.

Port officials were pleased with Friday’s decision.

“At least this gives us the ability to go to the next steps on construction of the waterway,” said Martin Callery, port director of communications and freight mobility.

But the LNG berth is no sure development.

“I don’t believe you will see anybody furiously digging away,” Callery said.

The next step really lies with the Jordan Cove Energy Partners. Jordan Cove has to get the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to approve the overall LNG project and natural gas pipeline. That decision is a long way off.

There is one possibility for action at the state level. Opponents now have 21 days to file an appeal to LUBA’s ruling, according to a LUBA spokeswoman. That paperwork then would go to the Oregon Court of Appeals.

Oregon Shores CoastWatch Director Phillip Johnson said his group had just heard of LUBA’s decision and was studying it to determine the group’s next step.

“The decision doesn’t really address the fact that we’re talking about a large industrial development primarily benefiting California that would seriously impact a very important estuary,” he said. “Estuaries are some of the most important, the most threatened habitats on the planet. Protecting estuaries by any standard should be a priority.”

Steve Jones of Citizens Against LNG said he was less involved with this case than with an earlier one. But either way, he said LNG is doomed here.

The project’s proposed location in a tsunami zone is leverage the opponents can use to block the offloading facility, he said.

The energy commission is expected to release a draft environmental impact statement for the LNG project this fall. The federal agency set a tentative deadline of May 2009 to make a final ruling on the project.

Jones figures supply and demand could mean an end to the project, too. The LNG market nationwide is not strong.

“We’re looking at the market,” Jones said. “If we don’t kill this beast here in the bay, the market will kill it.”

— Staff Writer Susan Chambers contributed to this report.