NW Innovation Works is proposing a $1.8 billion facility at the Port of Kalama to convert natural gas to methanol.
A national labor group is seeking to sway opinion on the proposed $2 billion methanol production facility planned for Kalama, sending a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee stating their support for the project.
The Nov. 18-dated letter from North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) argues the case for the benefits of building the facility, which would refine methane into methanol that project backers say will be used for plastics manufacturing. The letter was signed by 25 representatives of local, state and national unions and councils, and touts the work done for the project to reduce the potential climate impacts it would have if built.
The letter notes that Inslee had changed his stance on the refinery project last year. While signing bills passed in the 2019 state legislative session, the governor made comments on the project, saying that the project would not achieve desired climate effects in an increasingly-shrinking window to act.
“(W)e don’t have the luxury of a 50-year transition phase,” Inslee said at the signing.
The letter took a number of comments made from Inslee, such as “we have to act based on clear science,” and argued how the project was working toward the goals the governor stated. It pointed to greenhouse gas and other environmental impact mitigation to be used for the planned project, such as “Ultra-Low Emission” technology, elimination of 100 percent of the facility’s process water discharge, and an emissions offset program the letter stated would be for 100 percent of in-state greenhouse gas emissions associated with the project.
The letter also pointed to the latest draft environmental study performed for the project, undertaken by the Washington State Department of Ecology, which had concluded that although the project would increase state emissions “significantly,” it could replace dirtier sources globally.
The letter stated that with the latest study, “those (environmental) questions can now be put to rest.”
“That review process, conducted by the highest environmental regulatory authority in the state, has yielded an undisputable result: that (the) proposed methanol facility in Kalama is a net positive both for the working families of Washington and the effort to combat climate change,” the letter read.
The methanol facility project, proposed by Northwest Innovation Works (NWIW), has been in the works since 2014, facing challenges by environmental groups against the construction of another greenhouse gas-producing facility. The letter stated that “(u)nlike electricity and fuels, there are not any renewable alternatives when it comes to making Boeing 787’s, Microsoft computer keyboards, or REI kayaks and tents.”
“NWIW may not represent the ultimate end point for how the world will produce its synthetic materials in the year 2050, but it does represent the best possible step forward that we can take at this time and it puts us on a path toward a low carbon materials future that supports family wage jobs,” the letter read.
“The numbers don’t lie. The negative consequences of not building the proposed Kalama methanol facility are clear: more global (greenhouse gas) emissions and less economic opportunity for a Washington State economy ravaged by the pandemic,” the letter concluded.
The letter came days before U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan ruled to vacate federal permits for the project, requiring that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers do more work on the project’s greenhouse gas and infrastructure impacts. Groups opposed to the project hailed the ruling as a victory, while NWIW pointed to the pending finalization of the most recent environmental study, which when complete could lead to approval of state-level permits needed to start construction.
