SALEM — The former chairwoman of the Oregon Transportation Commission says she has no apologies for her opposition to $2 million in state money for a coal-loading dock project — a vote that prompted Gov. John Kitzhaber to remove her last week.

Catherine Mater of Corvallis, who led the commission for just seven months, made her remarks Thursday at a hearing by the commission. The commission is reconsidering the project for a share of $4 million in grants for nonhighway transportation projects under Connect Oregon.

Atop the short list recommended by a review panel last week is $2 million for renovation of Berth 2 at the Port of St. Helens near Clatskanie on the Columbia River.

The port’s original request was to have been matched by $3 million from Ambre Energy, the Australian company proposing to ship coal via the Northwest to Asia. But Mater and two other commission members rejected that project on a 3-2 vote Aug. 22.

Now the port, whose officials say the project is an all-purpose dock for oceangoing ships, proposes to put up the $3 million match itself.

The four remaining commission members will decide the grants at their next meeting Feb. 19 in Keizer.

On Thursday Kitzhaber named commission member Tammy Baney, a Deschutes County commissioner and supporter of the dock renovation, as Mater’s replacement as chairwoman.

Kitzhaber opposes coal exports, but some state officials — including his transportation adviser — say the dock project should stand on its own merits. Despite Ambre’s commitment to the project, they contend the renovation is commodity neutral and would allow shipments a variety of products.

Also in support of the project is Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, the No. 2 senator on the Legislature’s joint budget committee and co-leader of its subcommittee on transportation and economic development. Kitzhaber needs the support of Johnson and other legislators for his broader agenda.

Mater leads an engineering firm in Corvallis. Her nomination by Kitzhaber to the commission, which oversees the Oregon Department of Transportation, was confirmed by the Oregon Senate in May.

Although commission members serve specific terms, there is precedent for their removal. When Neil Goldschmidt became governor in 1987, he requested all five commission members to resign — which they did — and named five replacements who were confirmed by the Senate.

Mater testified Thursday that the same factors that led to her opposition last summer remain today.

“There is no ambiguity in the Berth 2 project being connected to coal,” said Mater, who was the last of more than 40 who testified at a two-hour hearing. “Anybody who says this project is not a coal project … is not correct.”

Mater said when she voted against state funding for the project last summer, neither Ambre Energy nor the port provided documentation to back a stated commitment of $3 million.

“They simply did not indicate they had the financial wherewithal,” she said.

She also said the proposed renovation was not ready for construction, as the Connect Oregon guidelines require. She said the Department of State Lands informed the port that a renewed lease would be required for Berth 2, “because the current lease did not accommodate transloading options.”

Ambre Energy ran into a road block when the Department of State Lands, in a separate matter, rejected a permit for a coal-loading dock Ambre Energy seeks at the Port of Morrow in Boardman. The dock would enable coal mined in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana and taken via rail to Boardman to be loaded onto barges headed for Clatskanie.

Ambre Energy is appealing that decision, which will come before an administrative law judge on Dec. 7.

During much of the hearing, the commission also heard mostly familiar arguments for and against the Port of St. Helens project.

A few say that renovation of the 70-year-old dock would enable the port to handle oceangoing cargoes of all types and create jobs and economic activity.

Others say that the project is a proxy for the debate over coal exports, and that coal and train traffic raise environmental and public health questions.

Mater, in a brief interview after the hearing, said she does not know which way the Feb. 19 vote will go.

Joining her last summer against funding for the Port of St. Helens project were members Dave Lohman of Medford and Alando Simpson of Portland. Baney and Susan Morgan, a Douglas County commissioner, voted for funding the project.

Their action left $40.3 million divided among 36 other projects, including renovation of Berth 1 at the Port of St. Helens for shipments of crude oil.

“Some commission members do believe that once the review panel has given its blessing, this commission has no authority to go back and look at the details,” Mater said. “I certainly did not feel that way. This is at a higher level. I have done the best I can.”

She said the review panel consists mostly of officials, including Tony Hyde, a Columbia County commissioner who testified for the project, and others who advocate for funding.