SEATTLE — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Monday denied a permit to a $700 million project to build the nation’s largest coal-export terminal in northwest Washington state.

The agency found the Gateway Pacific Terminal would interfere with the rights of Lummi tribal members to fish in their traditional grounds. Seattle District Commander Col. John Buck said in a statement that after a review, he determined that the project can’t be permitted as currently proposed.

The project, a venture between Seattle-based SSA Marine and Cloud Peak Energy, would handle up to 54 million metric tons of dry bulk commodities, mostly coal, at a deep water port at Cherry Point. Coal would be shipped by train from Montana and Wyoming for export to Asia.

The Lummi Nation last year asked the Corps, the federal agency overseeing the permitting process, to deny permits for the project. They argued that tribal members fish in the area, and that the federal government has a legal obligation to protect fishing rights secured in an 1855 treaty. Like many tribes, the Lummi signed a treaty with the U.S. government in which it ceded its land but reserved the right to hunt and fish in “usual and accustomed” areas.

“It’s great news for the Lummi, a great win for treaty rights and Indian country,” tribal chairman Tim Ballew said in an interview Monday, adding the announcement was met by applause. “The record established, and everybody knew, this project would have negative impacts to treaty fishing rights.”