A proposed methanol plant in Tacoma that drew fierce opposition from residents and leaders in Federal Way has been canceled.
“After 24 months of studying the feasibility of developing a methanol plant on the former Kaiser smelter site, Northwest Innovation Works has exercised its option to terminate the lease, effective immediately,” Port of Tacoma officials said in a statement on Tuesday. “The lease allowed NWIW to either terminate the lease during the remainder of the feasibility period, which runs through April 30, or enter the construction period of the lease.”
Accordingly, the scheduled April 25 Port of Tacoma meeting set to discuss the proposed methanol plant has been canceled.
Northwest Innovation Works released its own statement, citing pre-existing pollution at the proposed site and a longer-than-expected time frame for environmental studies as the prevailing factors in the cancellation.
“Given what we now know about the site and the process going forward, we estimate that we would need at least three more years of development activities to perform the necessary due diligence, public process, and environmental analysis,” said Northwest Innovation Works president Vee Godley.
The company also cited the public opposition to the plant as a factor.
“Accountability and transparency are important,” Godley said. “Given sufficient time, we believe we would have been able to satisfy most of the local citizens’ concerns and questions through the public participation process, and correct a lot of the misinformation swirling about regarding potential impacts of our project.”
Plants similar to the proposed Tacoma plant are still being developed at sites in Kalama, Washington, and in St. Helens, Oregon.
The Port of Tacoma’s statement thanked the public for its input and expressed hope that “the community recognizes the incredible value industrial jobs contribute to our region’s economic vitality.”
“We also hope the community recognizes the incredible value industrial jobs contribute to our region’s economic vitality,” Port officials said. “We remain committed to diversifying our business portfolio and putting the former Kaiser site back into productive use. We will assess how to move those plans forward. We are confident we will find a suitable use for this valuable industrial site to create jobs and economic opportunities for our community.”
The Tacoma plant plans had drawn the ire of some Federal Way residents who worried that the facility could pollute Puget Sound, lower air quality and damage local soil in a repeat of damage done by the Tacoma-based ASARCO smelter. The smelter did environmental damage to much of the Sound area from before its shutdown in 1993.
The plant was also a cause for concern for Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell and every member of the Federal Way City Council, the latter of which unanimously passed a resolution opposing the plant on Feb. 11.
